Another Eclipse
by Helena Mira
Summary: A/U: A continuation of the story New Moon Rewound. After spending over three months with the Denalis in Alaska, the Cullens return home so that Bella can graduate from high school and marry Edward. They believe that the wolves killed Victoria, but she really tricked them. What will happen when she returns again to take her revenge for James' death. No triangle or Jacob bashing.
1. Return to Forks

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: __This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare. __In order to understand this one, you really have to read that story. _

**Prologue**

"C'mon, Bella!" Alice calls. "We need to get going now!"

I look around the room where Edward and I have lived for the past three months with a little bit of nostalgia. We will be returning here in June, but not to this house. The Cullen house was built farther up the driveway, and our cottage will be built by then. But as I look at the empty fireplace, I can't help but think that this was also a home, our first home together.

I have been looking forward to this day for almost two months now. Since the moment we got the news that Jacob and Embry had killed Victoria in the woods out the back of the Cullens' house in Forks, I couldn't wait to go back. I would see Charlie again, and all my friends. I could finish high school with my class and graduate. And then Edward and I would get married and live happily ever after.

And it was only after I got that news and Edward offered to change me on the spot, that I realized how much I had really wanted that plan all along. Poor Edward! He had assumed that I would jump at the chance to be changed right away. I suppose that I thought so too. But then I understood that I had to do things this way for myself. And whatever I wanted was what Edward wanted because that is how much he loves me.

Now I am ready to go back to Forks. I have completed all my college applications and sent them in. I had missed the deadlines for Early Decision, but I didn't care. I can wait until April 1. Besides, I'm not going to college anyway. We are all going to return here after the wedding, now scheduled for June 21. It's our own inside joke. We will be married on the day of the summer solstice.

All the Denalis are coming down. It really feels that they are more like family to me than my real family. Especially since Renee and I have still not reconciled. I suppose that I should be sad about that. My only family at the wedding will be Charlie, who will walk me down the aisle. Angela's family will be there too, and Ben. But I don't want anyone else, except Renee and Phil if she changes her mind. Edward doesn't care. He just wants to get married.

While we were up here, Alice had gone on a fashion designing spree, creating dresses for all the women, including my wedding dress. The only difficulty was that she had had to be very careful about designing it when Edward wasn't anywhere nearby. Of course, he can't see it in my mind, but he can in hers if she's looking at it. She's very old-fashioned about not letting the groom see the dress before the wedding.

And course, since Edward is very traditional, he is totally playing along with her. The dress is very traditional also. She has designed it in the Edwardian style with a few modern embellishments of her own. She is working with some fancy designer, whose name I can't pronounce, in Paris. It will be shipped by May 1, just to be on the safe side.

A couple of weeks ago we made a brief visit to Forks for Christmas. We stayed at a local motel. Luckily it was a white Christmas, so there were no sun issues. Charlie was happy to see me. He has decided, much to Edward's disappointment to accept the engagement and welcome Edward into the family as my husband.

When we get back, I will move back in with him for the remaining five months, rather than living with the Cullens as I had been planning. In order to make this happen, Charlie has agreed to treat me like an adult.

There won't be any curfews or threats of being grounded. I can come and go as I please within reason. Edward is welcome at any time, except overnight of course. When we got back on Christmas Eve, Charlie made the sad announcement that the truck had died due to neglect. It was no longer in front of the house. Billy and Harry had borrowed a flat bed tow truck and brought back to La Push where Jacob wants to try to resurrect it again.

I should have known that Edward would take advantage of this to buy me a new and safer vehicle, a Mercedes SUV. But he assured me that I would only need it until the wedding. When we leave Forks, he plans on giving it to Charlie so that he doesn't have to drive around in the police cruiser all the time. And when he saw it, Charlie totally approved that it was definitely a better car for me.

Despite the fact that he had purchased the big, red monster, he never considered me completely safe in it. At first he objected when Edward said that he was giving it to hims hen we left, but he accepted it after Edward implied that it would hurt his feelings if he didn't. Charlie had been thrilled at the news that the enviable vehicle would be his, but he didn't want to feel like a "poor relation."

Telling people that he didn't want to "hurt the kid's feelings," gave him the excuse he needed to save his pride. I had also said that since I would be going to college, I didn't want to have to worry about parking the darn thing. The fact that he really shouldn't have been using the police cruiser as his personal vehicle didn't hurt either.

When we return, we will be bringing three vehicles: the Mercedes, the Volvo, and the Vanquish. We will also be bringing Jasper. It was thoroughly discussed and everyone decided that we shouldn't hide his presence. Instead, they would say that he had worked so hard during his first semester at Dartmouth that he had developed mono. Since he didn't want to leave the house much except to hunt it was as good an excuse as any.

The new, Denali Cullen house has been finished and that is where Emmett and Rosalie will live. Because they don't need a lot of furniture, they have only furnished a couple of rooms. The rest of the Cullen furniture will come out of storage for the house in Forks. The hospital is grateful that Carlisle is coming back, but the high school is less than pleased with our return.

In their eyes it is just a further inconvenience. The first thing that we have to do when we return is take our midterms. The guidance counselor is insisting that we take them at the school. I actually think that she would have let Edward and Alice take them in Alaska, but she didn't trust me.

After my fit over her remarks that I hadn't submitted my own work, Esme called her up and accused her of accusing _her _of lying. She was truly livid that the woman would dare to question her integrity. After that there were a few snide comments to Charlie about the amazing quality of my work. After the third one, Charlie responded that maybe Esme was a better teacher than the ones at the high school. That shut her down pretty quickly.

Once we knew that we were definitely returning to Forks, I began to correspond with Angela via my Mobile Me account. She kept me up to date with all the latest gossip in school and the various events. It seemed like nothing much had changed.

Jessica and Lauren were a little deflated to learn that I was coming back in January. It meant that there would be irrefutable proof that I had not gone into hiding to have Edward's baby, the story that they invented and spread "under the radar" to explain my absence.

It is only going to take us two days to drive back. Before we set the dates, Alice checked the weather forecast and said that it would be smooth sailing all the way. We would arrive several days before the end of the first term so that we could take our midterms with everyone else and set up the house. The only thing that I was not looking forward to was the moment that Edward and Alice would help me move back into Charlie's house.

I think that Edward was completely stunned when I said that I wanted to wait until June to be changed. He admitted that he thought that I would be thrilled that he was finally giving in. And he explained that having made that decision, he was looking forward to starting our life together even sooner. I felt so bad that I offered to change my mind, but he wouldn't let me.

When he said that he wanted me to be able to make my decision with no pressure, he had really meant it. And he knew that if, after all these months of begging, I had changed my mind, then I wasn't being fickle. I really needed the extra time to settle things up because I would literally be dying to live with him forever. He sees this as the ultimate gift of love.

Carlisle has compared my choice to become a vampire, end my human life, and how I would work through it, to that of someone with a terminal illness who knows the end is near. The hardest part is going to be that no one else will be in on the secret.

I can do my best to mend my bridges, particularly with my mother, but without the knowledge that I am leaving my human life forever, she will have no incentive reconcile. But in the end, that will be her choice, not mine. I cannot put my future on hold waiting for her to "forgive" me.

One discordant note in our return is the reaction of the Quileutes. Billy was furious that we were returning, but he had nothing to say about it. We had given them fair warning that if Victoria was destroyed that we would come back. Of course the assumption was that _we_ would destroy her. When we came back at Christmas, Carlisle asked that he and Edward be able to meet at the boundary with Sam and his "second."

Since this was an issue not related to the treaty, the council couldn't say anything about it. It was completely Sam's choice as to whether he met with them or not. Carlisle wanted to simply review the various points with the pack, who would be enforcing the treaty from their side.

He wanted no mistakes or misunderstandings on either side. He simply wanted to live in peace for the next five months and then leave, never to return. Edward would be there to forage whatever information about Victoria's defeat that he could from their minds.

Sam, being the leader that he was, agreed to the meeting. Edward and Carlisle were both surprised when he showed up with Jacob. It seemed odd that the youngest pack member would be the second in command, but considering his good judgment and fine strategy during the Victoria episode, it was logical.

It took a great deal of trust for Sam and Jacob to face Carlisle and Edward in their human forms. Edward said that Jacob was very nervous the whole time. He was ready to phase at any moment if he felt that he needed to protect himself. Jacob, like Edward, was silent throughout the entire conversation. Edward was just as glad. Jacob's feelings toward the Cullens had changed since he had become a wolf.

Whereas Jacob used to look at Edward with envy because I was in love with him, now he was looking at him with anger. The whole time they stood there, Jacob paid less attention to the discussion between Carlisle and Sam regarding protocols and boundaries than he did to sizing up Edward as a potential rival. He actually thought that he might be able to convince me to drop Edward for him.

Most of his swagger was based on the fact that _he _had destroyed Victoria where the Cullens had been unable to catch her. Thus he viewed himself as my savior and thought that this should give him some kind of peremptory rights over Edward for my affections. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for him to understand my choice.

Throughout his whole life, he has been raised on the tribal "histories" of the cold ones and their role in the creation of the wolves. While a year ago, he was laughing at them, as soon as he phased, he learned that they were all true. He learned of the true cause of the theft of the children. And he learned that it was my contact with the Cullens and their world that had put my life in jeopardy from her.

In fact, before he knew the true story, he had no idea that I had been in danger at all from this mad, red-haired vampire. Billy had fueled his anger by telling him that if I married Edward as planned, I would become "one of them" and Charlie would lose his only child. He planted the idea in his son's mind that he needed to save me from this dreadful fate, or I would turn into a blood-sucking monster like Edward.

Edward has also had the opportunity to read Sam's thoughts. He was cordial, but cautious. He was also genuinely grateful for the information that Carlisle had given him about Victoria. He was well aware that without that information, Jacob and Embry could not have killed Victoria. Sam was all about results, not political rivalries and games.

Edward had been suspicious that Jacob and Embry had perhaps only _claimed _to have destroyed Victoria. However Sam and Jacob were both thinking about the encounter during the conversation. With his own keen vampire vision, Edward could see that without a doubt, they had been chasing Victoria. He could catch her scent in their memories.

He could see the wolves tearing the body to shreds. And he could see and smell the distinctive purple smoke with its vile stench. Thus while it seemed absolutely incredible that she had allowed herself to be caught, somehow she had. All that he could suppose was that just as the wolves interfered with Alice's future visions, perhaps they also interfered with Victoria's gift for escape.

This was what they were discussing when they came home from the meeting. Jasper listened carefully to the new details of the chase and capture that Edward had been able to mine from their thoughts. He thought that the wolf interference conjecture had to be the explanation. The best escape would have been across the river, which she could have easily jumped, and she didn't use it.

Alice was somewhat mollified by the idea that hers was not the only gift that was "jammed" by the wolves' presence. I still found the whole thing unsettling. I also worried that Charlie might invite Billy and Jacob over some kind of get together while I was there. Fortunately, he chose not to.

He simply asked that the Cullens give us the day alone together since it would be my last Christmas as his unmarried daughter. Since it would be our last Christmas together, and the Cullens didn't celebrate the holiday anyway, there was no problem. Charlie was pleased by my easy acceptance of his invitation.

During the day, Charlie didn't turn on the television once or even have a beer. We did our best to talk and make conversation but it wasn't easy. Luckily, he was satisfied that my reluctance to talk about the hospital stay was due to a desire to just forget it. Thus when my few prepared remarks were made, he filled in the time with talk of town, the police station, fishing (of course), and his friends at La Push.

I listened carefully and made a point of asking follow up questions about everything to encourage him to keep talking. But I had to admit that I was glad when Edward came to pick me up. At that time, Charlie awkwardly thanked him for taking such good care of me and bringing me back home. Edward said that it was difficult for him to say, but he was truly grateful that I hadn't completely disappeared from his life.

That morning, we had gone to Dr. Weber's church for the Christmas service. Angela had asked us to come to the eleven because she had organized a Christmas pageant of the Sunday school kids. It was as cute as these things can be. Some of the younger children improvised lines that were hysterical, but that only added to the gaiety of the morning.

After the service, Dr. Weber shook our hands and said that he was glad that we had taken the time to come on our very brief visit. He also told Edward and me that he was looking forward to our pre-marital counseling sessions when we returned for good. Edward did a very good job of not throwing another tantrum, but he admitted that if I had let him change me in the fall we could have gotten out of that. And that wouldn't have bothered him at all.

When the cars are packed up, we stand in the driveway outside the Denalis' house to say our farewells. I am going to miss all of them (surprisingly enough even Tanya) very much. We promise to stay in contact by phone and email. And then we leave for Forks. Edward and I are driving back in the Vanquish and it promises to be a pleasant journey. As we are about to exit the driveway onto the A3, I take one last look back. Yes, I definitely feel like I am leaving home.

**Chapter 1: Return to Forks**

"Hey, Cullen!" calls out Ben Cheney as we enter the high school. "Good to see you back!"

He means it too. The other students pretty much ignore me, which is just fine as far as I am concerned. As I am walking back into Forks High School, it feels like I had never left. Since the students are all caught up with anxiety for their midterms, they hardly take notice of Alice and me.

Bella's entrance into the school parking lot in her brand new SUV caused quite a stir however, at least for ten minutes. But after the guys as come over to examine and salivate over it, they all went back to trying to remember the dates, formulas, and vocabulary that would get them through the next three days.

Alice and I arrived first and then stood by the car waiting for Bella to come in. If anyone is going to benefit from vampire speed, it's going to be her. She won't have to eat in the mornings and she can drive wherever she's going at least 100 mph. As it is, she entered the parking lot carefully, aware that her large vehicle was capable of taking multiple cars at a time.

What I hadn't told her was that the Mercedes SUV that I got her was one of those bulletproof, maximum security jobs that they use for ferrying around presidents and prime ministers in war zones. Her own disinterest in cars meant that she didn't even bother to check out the specs. To her, the most exciting things about the car were the radio, the built in GPS, and the "new car smell."

It was a good thing Rosalie and Emmett weren't around when I presented it to her. Emmett would have been laughing his head off, and Rosalie would have hissing and growling in frustration. As it was, Jasper couldn't stand there listening to her without laughing, so he went running into the house to email them with the reaction. He had also just won a couple of hundred bucks off of Emmett. Alice had tipped him off before they left what her reaction was going to be.

I'm glad that we are coming in for finals because it meant that by the time school was back to normal, everyone will be used our presence. Bella had been insulted that we had to sit for them in school, but that was because she thought that it was due the guidance counselor's lack of trust in us.

However as Mr. Berty greets us, I see relief in his mind. He is glad that he won't have to write a make-up and then grade it separately. He had his own issues with the guidance counselor, who had harassed him every time our work came in because she was convinced that it wasn't Bella's own work. After a year of teaching her, Berty certainly knew her writing style. And she had always been an A student in his class.

"Good to see you, Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan," he says. "You may go to your seats in the back of the room."

Naturally, a few of the kids have to turn around and look at us. However once the tests and blue books are passed out, no one does anything but write. I finish my exam in about fifteen minutes and then pretend to write for the next hour and fifteen minutes before I am able to hand it in.

At lunch, there isn't anyone who cares that the three of us were back. As I quickly scan the minds in the cafeteria, everyone is either thinking about the exam they just took or studying for the one they were about to take. Even the usual din is lower. The seniors are especially anxious to do well, since many colleges want their midterm grade reports before making any acceptance decisions.

I had never realized before how stressed out the humans were over exams. That's probably because I had never listened very carefully to thoughts. Jasper had felt their high level of anxiety, but I always thought that he was exaggerating. Now I could see that he was definitely not.

In the afternoon we have history and it is a repeat of the same entrance to the test room, relief that there will be no make-ups involved and annoyance at the guidance counselor. Once we are done, we walk out to the cars with Angela and Ben discussing the tests.

"I didn't think that English was so bad, but history?" Angela says. "What a nightmare!"

"I thought that it was interesting," Bella replies.

"That's because if you had stayed in Phoenix, you would have taken AP Euro," she responds. "Oh, well! Math and Science tomorrow."

"And then Spanish on Wednesday and a four-day weekend so that the teachers can grade," she says.

"Good for them!" Angela grumbles. "We should have had a four-day weekend to study."

As usual, Angela is over-anxious about her tests. She is a very good student, but has no confidence in her own abilities. I can see in her mind that she had been more than adequately prepared for her exams this morning, but was still second-guessing all of her essay responses. It takes a great deal of self-control not to tell her that all of answers were on target.

I am tempted to try and discuss them with her to see if I can settle her mind, but she wants to bolt out right away to study for tomorrow's tests. So we leave right away and Bella follows us back to our house. Although Charlie hadn't said anything about it, we decided that it would make him feel better if Bella actually used the new car and didn't rely on the Cullen chauffeuring service, as he called it (in his mind).

So in addition to driving herself to school, she would drive home from our house some afternoons in time to make him dinner. The only problem with this was that I had to drive at human speed so that I wouldn't lose her behind me. Naturally I would have preferred that she still live with us, but if she was coming back for Charlie's sake, she should really be living with him. Luckily, we weren't going to be bothered by the invasive presence of the mutts anymore.

Over Christmas, Carlisle and I had a meeting with Sam and Jacob about the various points of the boundaries and what they meant, as well as certain aspects of the treaty. One of our key demands was that the wolves no longer "guard" the Swan house. It essentially boiled down to spying. It made Bella uncomfortable and me very annoyed to have them constantly around.

Sam agreed to this point, much to Jacob's annoyance. Apparently, Billy had anticipated that Carlisle would make such a request and had ordered Sam _not _to agree. However, since it was the pack that was left with that guard duty, Sam was the one that owned the choice.

I could see in both Sam and Jacob's minds that there was a power struggle going on between the council and the pack, as well as Billy and Sam. Although as Alpha wolf, Sam was technically the chief of the tribe, he had never pressed the point. I suspect that he didn't want that responsibility in addition to his own. But there were disadvantages to not being the chief.

Since the threat of Victoria is now gone, Sam wants Jacob and Embry to be in school full-time, only serving on limited patrols on the weekends to give Paul and Jared some time with their friends and family. Since Sam is the Alpha, he feels that it is important that he stay on patrol or on call at all times.

He also had encouraged the other two to get part-time jobs so they would at least have some life outside of the pack. This was the main reason why he had so readily agreed to giving up on the nightly guard duty outside Charlie's house. It would free up the four younger wolves to actually have lives. And Paul and Jared lobbied him before he decided it. They hated the boredom when they could be doing something (anything) else. Only Jacob (who had never done it) still wanted to.

Sam was also hoping that after the Cullens left, a couple of the other guys would stop phasing. But since he couldn't be sure of who they might be, he wanted to make sure that they kept all their options open. As for himself, Sam knew that he would be Alpha for life, or least until a new generation of wolves was born, potentially even his own son, if he and Emily were to have one.

And so, while Sam was grateful for all the help that Carlisle had given him so that they could destroy Victoria and end that menace to the tribe, the same was not true of the others. Billy stubbornly held onto his belief that if there had been no Cullens, there would have been no Victoria. Jacob wasn't entirely aware of the role that Carlisle had played in giving Sam the intelligence to defeat her.

He had convinced himself that he had done it all on his own, with a little help from Embry. His father had fed that belief with the idea that since he was the one who went in for the kill, it was all his. And he was the great grandson of the last Alpha. From the hints I picked up in his mind, I could see that Billy was trying the groom his to challenge Sam for the role of Alpha in the pack.

Immediately after Jacob phased, Sam had graciously offered to step down from the position because of Jacob's superior bloodline. Sam's great-grandfather had been the "Beta" of that pack to Ephraim's position of Alpha. However at that time, with the looming threat of Victoria, Jacob had wisely chosen to reject his offer. He simply didn't have the field experience needed to assume that role.

Things had changed since then. Destroying Victoria has given him what I felt was a false sense of confidence. Both Sam and Jacob had been replaying the defeat of Victoria in their minds when we met them. It was obvious that the only reason that Jacob and Embry had been able to take Victoria down was because of the series of Alpha orders that Sam had given him. They were the eyes, ears, and paws of the operation, but Sam was the brain.

It was the only explanation that I could think of for their success in capturing and killing one of the greatest vampire escape artists in the world. They were close enough when she was on the ground that I could both see and smell her. When she was up in the trees I could maintain sight of her, but not scent, which was normal.

When she leapt back down to the ground and the dogs got a hold of her, her scent was still evident. And it hadn't taken long for them to dismember her and then phase back to human and set the pieces on fire. This produced the thick, purple smoke that was usual for a vampire burning. By the time that Sam and the others got there, she was pretty much gone.

I still could not believe that she just hadn't jumped across the river rather than up into the trees. If she were any other vampire, I might think that she was toying with them. But Victoria's strongest instinct had always been escape. There wasn't even a revenge motive to distract her. By the time that we were finished talking, I was convinced that there had been no mistake.

The worst part of the whole encounter with them, was having to return to Bella with the news that Jacob was no longer the sweet boy we remembered from the fall. He had developed the inbred hate that came with being a werewolf. The was a certain degree of jealousy involving me.

He had not turned sixteen yet, so he knew that he was still a "kid" to Bella. However his growth spurt had physically given him the height and girth of a twenty-five year old. He was taller and certainly more muscular than me. He thought that this would give him an edge when she saw him for the first time. He was also her savior from the vampire threat.

For her part, she was just hoping that he would stay away from her rather than "press his suit" because she hated to hurt him. But if he was going to make her choose between my love and his friendship because of his hatred, she could only choose me. That commitment was made and could not be broken. I was really hoping that he would force that choice early on because in the long run, it would save him a lot of grief and frustration from an unrequited love.

I had no reason to hate him or wish him ill. In fact, none of us did. There was a great deal of enmity between European werewolves and vampires because we truly were natural enemies. However other than the smell, we had no reason to dislike the Quileute wolves. They were an annoyance because of their feelings toward us, but that wasn't enough reason to feel anything more than dislike for them.

Unfortunately, the vampires who had come before us to the region had given them more than enough reason to loathe us just because of what we are. Their tribe had nearly been wiped out by vampires in the past. If they chose to be careful of us, we understood that, but it was the "hate factor" that made things so difficult. That, and the fact that they wanted to do anything they could to prevent Bella from marrying me.

Oddly, this idea had barely been around the edges of Sam's thoughts. He really couldn't care less what happened to Bella, as long as it happened far away from Forks and La Push. He had no desire to pick any battles that he didn't have to. Jacob was another story, but his adolescent mind was such a chaotic stew of emotions that it was impossible to tell how many ideas were his own and how many had been given to him by Billy.

When we returned from the conference, I didn't give Bella all the details of their thoughts, especially those of Jacob for her. It wasn't so much that I wanted to protect or hide anything from her. It was because I hadn't entirely sorted them out for myself. And if I explained them wrong, she might feel the need to push up her transformation up to a closer date. Bella's reactions were never predictable.

But having laid all the groundwork for our return to Forks including the visit to Charlie, making arrangements with Dr. Weber, and organizing our return to school, we would really have to do some fancy footwork to back track on all of that. To be perfectly honest however, I would have been completely happy for her to make that decision.

Of all the unpredictable responses that Bella had ever had to any situation, her decision to wait for me to change her until after the wedding was definitely the most shocking of all. We had had that argument so many times before that it almost sounded funny when she said that she wanted to wait. And it had been a much greater disappointment to me than I let on.

Carlisle and Eleazar had both talked to me about the issue for a long time. We had looked at it in all of its various aspects. In the end, they convinced me that I needed to put the decision completely in her hands. I should make no demands upon her choice and set no conditions. We were all convinced that she would be happy to be changed immediately so that we could begin our new life together.

As we analyzed it later we realized that by stripping out all of my conditions and arguments, she suddenly felt that she could truly make her decision. And just as I had known that she really wasn't ready, she now knew that too. Afterwards, Carlisle ruefully told me that if I hadn't wanted to hear the truth from her, I shouldn't have asked. The only clear benefit in her choice was now we wouldn't be arguing about it anymore.

When we arrive at home, it is obvious that Carlisle, Esme and Jasper have been busy moving things in and around. Carlisle is at work, while Esme is puttering around the kitchen. My piano is back on its place on the platform and I can't help myself. I go over and play a few chords to see how far out of tune it was. Groaning at the sound, I immediately turn on the dehumidifier to dry out the air around it.

One of the hardest parts of maintaining the tuning of a piano on the Olympic peninsula is the heavy damp and humidity. The climate in central Alaska is so dry that you need a humidifier to maintain the balance. The opposite is true here. I sigh and wander back over to the others.

"So Bella," Jasper is saying. "How was your drive to school today in the bulletproof tank?"

"Ha, ha," she replies. "It's not my fault that Edward doesn't trust my driving."

"Actually, love," I say. "I trust your driving. It's your magnetic force for danger that I don't trust. If another car crashes into yours, I want to make sure that you've got plenty of protection."

"But bulletproof?" she asks, to my consternation. "Why didn't you tell me?"

_Oops! My bad._

"Well, if there was only one stray bullet in Forks, it would be sure to find its way to you," I reply. "Thanks a lot, Jasper."

_Sorry bro, I thought you told her._

"Hey, Alice!" Jasper says as he samples my mood. "Why don't we go out for a run and check out the old hunting grounds."

Alice takes a look into the future, grabs his hand and runs.

"What was that all about?" Bella asks suspiciously.

"A herd of elk to the west," I reply.

"Oh, so she wasn't trying to see if we were about to have a fight?" she asks.

"No, she's sick of caribou," I answer smoothly. "And she prefers elk to anything else, although I don't know why."

"Don't you like elk?" she asks curiously.

"I prefer mountain lion," I say. "Remember? I told you that after we first met."

"What's the big difference in taste?" she asks.

"It's difficult to explain," I reply, avoiding the whole herbivore versus carnivore issue. "It's like trying to describe color to a man who has been blind since birth. You'll understand the first time we go hunting."

"I hadn't really thought about animal blood tasting that different by species," she says. "So it's really that different?"

"I told you that Emmer prefers bear," I say.

"Yeah, but I thought that was because he likes to wrestle with them before he kills them," she says. "But I guess it makes sense because different meats taste different."

I am getting sick of this conversation. I'm still annoyed that Jasper spoiled her initial joy in my gift.

"Do you want me to help you study for your calculus test?" I ask.

"You might as well," she replies. "I really hate math."

"Yes, but don't you have a point to prove to the guidance counselor about all the work that you did in Alaska?" I ask. "Just think of how pissed off she'll be if you pull an A."

"True," she says, nodding.

But she is still reluctant as she pulls out her textbook and binder. Both Carlisle and I had tutored her so that she would get two more approaches to the subject after Esme taught her. Her biggest problem is that she really doesn't like math and numbers. Carlisle had the most success with her because he presented it as a kind of beautiful, symbolic poetry.

I had a harder time because when I finally learned with my vampire brain, I was never really conscious of how I acquired the knowledge and know how other than I just got it. In the end, we just did a lot of extra practice problems together. However, as we begin to review the material from the beginning of the year, Bella is surprised by how much she actually knows.

And this knowledge gives her the confidence to review for the exam based on the desire to get an A rather than just hope for a C. The goal of challenging the guidance counselor's assumption that we had been doing her work for her became an added incentive when she finally realized that she was capable of getting one.

She isn't the least but worried about Spanish. She spent so much time with Carmen reading and speaking that she pretty much has it down cold. Eleazar had helped her with her grammar and writing. Mrs. Goff was going to be pretty astounded by her progress.

When Carlisle returns home from work, we suddenly realize how much time has passed. This is a problem because she had planned on arriving home by five.

"Darn," she says. "I'm going to be late for Charlie's dinner. And this is my first full day back too."

"Call him up and tell him that you were studying," Carlisle advises her. "Apologize of course, but I think that he will understand if you were doing your schoolwork."

"It's Bella," I say, as soon as he picks up. "I'm sorry that I'm late, but Edward and I were studying for finals and lost track of time."

"That's okay, Bells," he says. "I can fend for myself."

Esme walks in with a casserole dish filled with some vile-smelling concoction and a loaf of bread. Bella smiles and heaves a sigh of relief.

"Actually, neither of us will have to," I answer. "Esme is sending over a cheese and ham casserole."

"She doesn't have to do that," Charlie says unconvincingly.

"She already did," Bella says. "I should be home in a half hour."

"No problem," he says. "Drive carefully.

"See you soon," she says.

"Drive carefully," she mutters. "As if I could get hurt in that thing."

I carry the food out to the car and give her a kiss goodbye.

"I'll see you later, love," I whisper in her ear.

"I'll be looking out for you," she replies smiling sweetly.

When I go back into the house, Esme and Carlisle are waiting to talk to me.

"I know that you're disappointed that she's not living here anymore, but it really is for the best," Esme says.

"Charlie called me up to let me know that he had scheduled a physical with Dr. Gerandy," Carlisle adds. "He's also tried cutting back on the beer, to two cans a night."

"That's good, I say. "So he's decided to turn over a new leaf with his health?"

"Harry had another cardiac episode over the weekend," he answers seriously. "It was pretty sobering for him. On Saturday, he was visiting and Harry started to have an angina attack. He drove him and Sue to the hospital. While they were waiting for word, Leah came in with Seth and just fell to pieces. It made him realize how badly Bella would take it if anything like that happened to him."

"I'm sure that had a greater impact on him than if it was just Sue that was so upset," Esme says. "Is Leah the same age as Bella?"

"A year older he told me," he answers. "Seth was pretty shaken up too. Seeing how scared the kids were about possibly losing their father really made him think twice about his lifestyle choices. But he asked me not to tell Bella. He said that he wanted to tell her in his own way."

"That's good," Esme says. "So he's really trying to open up the lines of communication."

"If we could just get him away from Billy, it might really do him some good," I say.

"That is something that we are not going to become involved with," Carlisle says sternly. "That is between Charlie and Billy. It has nothing to do with us."

"I know," I say, failing to keep the petulance out of my voice.

"Listen, why don't you go out and find yourself a nice, big mountain lion while you're waiting to go to Bella's house for the night," Esme says. "It will put you in a better mood and give them a chance to reconnect. If you absorb too much of her time, then that won't happen. You can't be jealous of the time she spends with her father. Remember that it was the primary she came back here."

"I know," I say. "We've been through this before. I need to give her the space that she can cultivate her relationships with him and her other friends. I'm just so used to having her all to myself."

"Son," Carlisle says. "After you are married, you are going to have her all to yourself for eternity. You know how much she loves you. Don't make her feel like she is being pulled in two directions."

"Okay," I say. "I get it. I'll go find a nice, big old mountain lion and have a feast."

As I run out the door and leap over the river, I run on my usual trail out to the mountains. For a minute I am tempted to take the side trail over to the Crumbling Cottage but I change my mind. I'd rather go back for the first time with Bella. I feel like it is kind of our place and I don't think that it would be the same without her.

_Author's Note: I promise that I have read through all of my reviewers' questions and suggestions. It may be awhile before the story fully unfolds, so please try to be patient! I love you all and I hope that you will enjoy this story! _


	2. Charlie's Choice

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 2: Charlie's Choice**

I'm feeling pretty good as I drive back to Charlie's. The cheese casserole smells divine, even though I know that Edward was nearly choking on the aroma of it. And I have to admit that the SUV (bulletproof notwithstanding) is a pretty sweet ride. It is even bigger than the big red monster, but I figure that if I can get used to driving that, I can drive anything. This car is a lot quieter, so that the whole street doesn't know that I'm arriving home. I have a great sound system _and _a CD player.

Now that I've driven it a few times, I realize that the automatic steering, automatic door locks, cup holder, and climate control features are pretty cool. The leather seats are a serious upgrade from the old clothe in the truck. It may not have as much character as the old car, but it's much more of a driving experience than a physical workout. I know that it's got all kinds of other stuff that the others appreciated, but I don't care about that. I'm just all about my creature comforts.

When I drive up and car in front of Charlie's, I remind myself to lock it up after I grab my backpack and the food. I never had to worry about that with the truck because no one would ever have wanted to steal it. Another feature that I will need to get used to, are the automatic locks. One click and they're locked. Who could have guessed that the automobile industry could come so far in fifty years?

By the time I walk around to the passenger side, Charlie is already there pulling out the casserole.

"Hey, Bells!" he says cheerfully, but awkwardly. "I thought that I'd come out and give you a hand."

"Thanks, Dad," I say, biting back a sarcastic remark about how hungry he must be.

When we get to the kitchen, I can see that he has set the table, including a glass of water for each of us. That's new, no beer again. He even has made a salad of sorts with the lettuce and tomatoes I bought yesterday.

"No offense, Dad," I say, as I wash my hands and look in the salad bowls. "But I need to chop up that lettuce a little more. The leaves are about the size that a cow would eat."

"Oh," he says sheepishly. "You better check out the tomatoes and the cucumbers too."

I hadn't even noticed the cucumbers hidden under the huge leaves of lettuce. The tomatoes are a good size, but he sliced the cucumbers about a half an inch thick. He even pulled out the Light Italian Dressing that I had bought. When the salads are ready, I bring them over it the table where he has sliced the bread and served the casserole. He even remembered to put the butter out.

"Well done, Dad," I say. "You even remembered the napkins."

"I'm so glad to have you back that if I was any kind of a cook, I would have made dinner for you," he replies, and then digs in.

As we eat in silence, I think about my welcome home yesterday. The minute we pulled up in the cars, he flipped off the TV and went out to help bring in my stuff. Edward tried to object, but he just said that the exercise would do him good. Then he and Edward went downstairs to let Alice and I set up the room.

"Is that going to be okay?" I whispered to Alice.

"Just fine," she said. "By the time we get down there they will be talking about college options for the three of us. I think that he's really trying to start off on the right foot."

That was fine with me. Since I didn't own a whole lot of stuff, it didn't take much time at all to make up my bed and put my few clothes away. Alice didn't say anything as we unpacked, but the look on her face told me that a mall trip would be happening next weekend. That was fine with me as long as Esme came with us. In fact, it could be a lot of fun to have a girls' day out.

Once I was unpacked, I went down into the kitchen to see what the food situation was. One look into the pantry and fridge and I realized that a shopping trip was in ordered. I checked on the laundry detergent and saw that there was enough left in the bottle for one more load. Luckily, the pen and scrap paper were still in the same utility drawer where I left them, so I started making a list.

"Hey, Dad!" I said, walking into the living room. "Do you want anything from the store? The larder is pretty bare."

"Just the usual," he replied. "You know what I like."

"Case of beer?" I asked as scribble a few things down. "You're down to one six-pack."

"No, just another six-pack," he said. "I've been cutting back lately."

"Uh, okay," I said, wondering if lately meant today since I got home just now.

"Do you want some help?" Edward asked.

"Sure, if you want to come with me," I said. "I have a lot of stuff to get."

"And I'll stay with Charlie and keep him company!" Alice said brightly.

"Thanks, Alice," I answered uncertainly.

But Charlie looked pleased. Aside from Esme, Alice was his favorite Cullen. And Alice could hold a conversation with a pet rock if she wanted to. Edward held the house door open for me and automatically walked over to the Volvo. But I wanted to drive my car.

"Edward, this is my errand," I said. "I want to drive my new car."

To my surprise, he looked pleased.

"Of course," he answered, and got in on the passenger side when I unlocked the doors. "I promise I won't be one of those husbands who insists on driving everywhere with his wife."

"It looks like Charlie isn't the only one turning over a new leaf," I commented. "Has Mr. Control Freak decided to take a vacation for awhile?"

"I'm not a Control Freak," he answered virtually. "I'm an Overprotective Male, remember?"

I had to laugh. We had this discussion several times in Alaska. I had argued that his over-protectiveness amounted to control freakishness. He told me that being a control freak was much more intense. We tried to settle the discussion by asking Carlisle and Esme, but they just said that we had to figure it out for ourselves. Cowards!

It was fun (for me) walking around the supermarket with him. Since the food was all packaged, there were no offensive odors to bother Edward, so he just pushed the cart along like a few of the other husbands helping out. The only difference was that he wasn't trying to sneak junk food in while I wasn't looking.

This was something that we were never going to do after we got married because we would both be "dining out" then. It felt perfectly natural and normal. It looked like Edward was taking very well to the idea of being domesticated. Naturally, we ran into a couple of old faces.

I nodded as we passed and they looked at us with that "oh, how sweet" look that people give you when they can see you were in love. Suddenly, I heard a greeting from a familiar voice.

"Well look who's back!" Mrs. Newton exclaimed a little too loudly for my taste. "Don't you look wonderful? You must have been working out. You look so svelte and toned! I don't suppose that you'll be coming back to work?"

Edward was standing behind me trying not to smirk about something. I looked around but didn't see anyone else I knew.

"No," I said. "Since I was away for so long, I really have to focus on my schoolwork. How did Katie work out?"

"She's a lovely girl," Mrs. Newton replied in a normal tone of voice. "Very responsible and reliable. I'm very pleased that you recommended her."

"Well," I said. "It was nice seeing you. But I need to get these groceries home to Charlie. It looks like he's been starving himself while I was gone."

"I wouldn't exactly say that," she grimaced. "But we were all very glad to here that you two had patched things up. He relies on you more than you realize. And he missed you _so _much!"

I actually did realize it, but I also wanted to get moving. I was planning to cook steak for dinner and I wanted to get started marinating it. I could see that she was looking at the six-pack in my cart. Technically speaking, I'm not old enough to buy beer. But since they know in here that it's definitely for Charlie they never give me a hard time. I was grateful that I wasn't buying a case.

On the drive back, I asked Edward what he thought was so funny.

"Mrs. Stanley was one aisle over listening to every word," he said. "Mrs. Newton knew it and that was the reason for her comments. Needless to say, Jessica's mother was disappointed, no juicy gossip to report. You didn't notice her checking you out while you were checking the groceries out."

"Checking me out?" I asked.

"Baby bump," he answered with a devilish grin.

I rolled my eyes. What else was new? I wondered how many other people had been surreptitiously looking for the same thing, but I didn't want to ask. When we got home, Edward helped me unpack and then I began to work on dinner. Before we ate, Alice and Edward got ready to leave.

"You can stay for dinner if you like," Charlie offered.

"No," Alice said. "We have work to do at home, and midterms to study for. _And_ we wouldn't want to interfere with your reunion."

Naturally that was exactly what Charlie was hoping they would do. It was going to be awkward for the next few days between us. There were so many things that we had said to each other before I left that could not be unsaid. And now there were a lot of things that needed to be said so that we could try to make things right again. And neither of us had any idea of where to start. But we would never even start to talk if we weren't home alone together.

One of the good things about Charlie is that he doesn't like to talk while he eats. To my surprise, he ate his green beans without any grumbling and didn't slather his baked potato with sour cream and butter, even though I had taken out them out. And he drank a large glass of water with his meal, claiming that he had already had his two beers for the day. Something must have happened very recently to change his mind about his diet.

He didn't look like he had lost an ounce of weight. In fact, his pants were looking even tighter than before I left. He ate more slowly than before, which was odd because he usually shoveled his food. I apologized for not thinking to get a pie or something for dessert, but he said that it was okay.

I have to admit that I was pretty cynical about his newly found food habits. The last time Esme had tried to get him to eat a healthier diet, he couldn't stick to it for more than a couple of days. And he had refused to cut back on his beer consumption.

Charlie has always been very good at starting things, but not so much at finishing them, unless of course he is waiting for the fish to bite. Then he has all the patience in the world. He's also pretty good watching any kind of sports game through to the end.

My snarky thoughts were clearly evidence of my own nervousness at being alone with him. I was tired after the long drive, and I had midterms to study for. I was not in the mood for getting into any kind of potentially explosive discussions on my first night back.

After I cleaned up the kitchen and then went up to my room to get ready for school tomorrow, I heard him turn the TV on to some Sunday night football game. Since he hasn't turned on the TV yet since I'd been home, I didn't begrudge him. Edward had told me that the Seahawks had a game tonight and they were having a good season.

Besides, when I got upstairs, Edward was waiting for me. All thoughts of Charlie immediately left my head. There he was, lying on my bed with his hands behind his grinning at me. It was almost like we had never been away. I immediately crawled up next to him and started to kiss him. It felt like a very like time since we had arrived back at Charlie's and had to limit our PDAs so as to not shock his sensibilities.

That was another big difference when I was living among the vampires. There were no issues with anyone about showing your live for your mate, provided that nothing was ever too graphic. We didn't spend tons of time hanging out with the whole family. But them again, neither did they. They all had their own little "clusters" of closer friends than others. But it would be very difficult to have fourteen best friends.

"So what was Charlie thinking about when he was talking about his change of diet just now?" I asked when I was finished kissing Edward for awhile.

"Not much other than trying to think of things to say to you," he replied. "And before that he was trying to think of things to say to me. He was very happy when Alice offered to stay with him while we shopped because he knew that it meant that he wasn't going to have to worry about what to say."

"Yeah," I said. "He was pretty quiet at dinner. But I know he's glad that I'm back and not just for the cooking and maid service."

"One of Charlie's greatest difficulties," Edward explained. "And it's one of the reasons why I have so much trouble reading his mind sometimes, is that he has a very hard time putting his thoughts into words. He is especially challenged when it comes to expressing his emotions.

"When we came in, I really got a sense of his feeling of relief that you were really back, more than any words that might describe it. He wasn't going to believe it until you actually walked in the door. It's one of the reasons why he is so taciturn. But he is an excellent listener and that's what makes him a good cop. He absorbs details well. He is also very empathetic. And that is an excellent quality in any human being."

"Or vampire," I added.

"Or vampire," he agreed. "So I'm assuming that you need to get organized for school tomorrow. How are you feeling about your English and history midterms?"

"A lot better than I am about math and science," I replied. "At least the two easy ones are first."

But I took the hint and went to take my shower and go through my nightly routine. Then I went downstairs to say goodnight to Charlie. He immediately shut off the set.

"You don't have to do that, Dad," I said. "I'm just saying goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure, babe," he said and stood up to give me a kiss goodnight. "Sweet dreams."

"You too," I replied before I raced back upstairs to see Edward.

As usual, he hadn't moved an inch. Instead he watched as I pulled out my clothes and packed my backpack for day. Then I went over and snuggled down in bed beside him, rolled up in my comforter and tucked under his arm.

"It feels weird being back here," I admitted. "I mean, all of the sudden it's not just you and me with a bunch of vampires downstairs."

"You could still change your mind," he said hopefully. "You could have a relapse during your calculus exam and we could go back to Alaska."

"Sorry, but it doesn't feel that weird," I replied. "It's funny how we've so totally reversed our positions on the subject."

"I don't know if I would call it funny," he said. "I was pretty disappointed that you didn't stick with your original choice, or rather demand. You sure as hell nagged me enough about it."

"I offered to go back to it, if that's what you really wanted," I answered.

"And I said no because I would have felt that I was manipulating you," he answered back. "And I had sworn that I wouldn't do that anymore. This one is all about you. It's your life and you're death, therefore it's your decision. So I just have to suck it up."

"Yes, I can see that you're really trying to allow me to make my own decisions," I said. "But now the decision that I need to make at he moment is to go to sleep."

"CD or humming?" he asked, referring to my lullaby.

"Charlie's still awake, so you better make it the CD," I said. "And I wouldn't put it past him to check in on me tonight."

"He's already decided to," Edward said. "I'll jump in the closet as soon as I hear him coming up the stairs."

"It figures you would know that," I answered yawning, while he switched on the Bose.

"So Bells," Charlie says, waking me up from my daydream and back to the reality of Monday night dinner. "I have something that I want to talk to you about."

"Sure, okay," I reply, as I try to bring my mind back to the present.

"It's kind of important," he says. "So it would be nice if you could stop thinking about Edward for a few minutes and pay attention."

Naturally, I blush a deep red. It was a good deduction on his part but not really a hard one to make. I wonder if something new was going on with Renee. I haven't spoken to her in months.

"Harry had another heart episode, an angina attack the other day," he says. "Now I was over at the house and drove him and Sue to the hospital. It was good that I did too because I needed to drive with the siren wailing to get him there as fast as possible.

"Well, while I was waiting Leah came in with Seth and was crying hysterically. I had never seen that kind of emotion from that girl before. And Seth was pretty scared too. It was awhile before the doctor came out to tell them that he had another close call."

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask horrified.

"If he changes his lifestyle and I mean really changes it this time, not just when Sue is looking," he answers. "But that wasn't the most important thing for me. When we went in to see him, Leah started crying and yelling at him that she was too young to lose her Dad and what would they do without him. And well, that really got me thinking about you."

"About me?" I ask, still stunned by what he had just told me about Harry.

"You see, Harry's only a couple of years older than me," he says. "And I know that I'm not in the best shape. I eat too much and drink too much beer, that stuff is loaded with calories you know. But I was thinking about what if it was you in that emergency room waiting to hear news on me. Now I know that Edward would be there for you, and probably Carlisle and Esme. But it wouldn't be the same."

"You're right," I say faintly. "It wouldn't."

"So anyway," he says. "I called Gerandy's office this morning and made an appointment. I would have seen Carlisle. In fact I called him first, but he said that he couldn't treat family. It's nice that he thinks of me as family already. And he said that since he was leaving in five months, he would rather see me fixed up with someone for the long term."

"So what do you think that Dr. Gerandy will do?" I ask.

"I figure he'll give me a full physical, blood work, EKG, the full nine yards," he replies. "Then I'm going to have to take my lumps and buckle under with the whole diet thing. That's why I've been trying to eat better that last two days. I know that it won't change the tests, but I might as well get started now, rather than wait for the bad news."

"Well, I'm sorry about Harry," I say. "But I'm glad that it gave you a wake up call."

"Well," he says. "I'm going to have to learn to do this for myself because I didn't have someone like Sue to nag me about it. But if you want, you can nag."

"I'll be happy to," I say emphatically. "We need you around for a long time."

"Well, at least until June 21," he says. "You need me to walk you down that aisle."

"Well, I need you for more than that," I say, forgetting that I will be disappearing shortly after that.

"I'm glad to hear it," he says with feeling.

Now that I know from Edward how inarticulate he is with his feelings. I didn't feel so bad about the way he told me. It must have been very hard for him to work up the courage to talk about this with me.

"So, have you heard from Renee at all?" I ask.

"I called her to let her know that you were coming back to finish up school," he replies. "I left a message but she never called back."

"Carlisle called to give her that same message and she never called him back either," I say.

"She's still stewing in her own juices because she thinks we're leaving her out," he says. "But it seems to me right now that she's leaving herself out."

I am in complete agreement with that opinion. But if and when Renee decided to "forgive" me somehow the story would be twisted around to make her the victim. Right now I just want to clean up and get upstairs to Edward, and try not to think about what Charlie just told me. With a sigh, I begin to clear away the dishes from the table.

"I know that you still have some more studying to do," Charlie says. "Why don't you wash and I'll dry?"

"Sounds good to me," I say more cheerfully than I feel, even though I already know that I'm done with my studying for the night.

With both of us working, the dishes were done in half the time.

"Not bad, Dad," I say as I put the leftovers in the refrigerator. "There's enough for another meal, and you'll be able to have some of this nice homemade bread with your eggs tomorrow."

I can see him gazing longingly at the leftovers, then a look of determination comes into his eyes and he shakes his head.

"There's a basketball game that I want to see," he says.

"Professional or college hoops?" I ask.

"College hoops," he says. "Um, I've been watching more of the women's games this year. It's a whole other ball game. Lady Vols down in Tennessee look like they're headed for the NCAA. I'll tell you. That Pat Summerall is some coach, better than that Auriemma guy in Connecticut."

"If you say so," I answer on my way up the stairs, still bewildered by what he had just told me.

Edward is waiting for me tonight in the rocking chair. He opens his arms so that I can crawl onto his lap. I curl up in a little ball and let go of my emotions. He just holds me and lets me cry it out. I'm sure that he just heard every word that Charlie said, but I just want to make sure. I don't want to have to repeat it.

"Did you hear him?" I ask tearfully.

"You mean about his health and his determination to change his lifestyle?" he asks. "Yes, I did."

"What would have happened if he had gotten sick or maybe died while I was away?" I ask.

"It didn't," he answers gently. "And that's all that matters."

"Is it?" I ask hesitantly.

"Bella, it's one thing to second guess the bad stuff in your life," he replies. "Save the 'what ifs' for your regrets. And I think that in the long run you will feel better that you made your decision to come back without knowing this. You won't have to feel any guilt. You did the right thing because it was the right thing to do, not because you felt pressed into it."

"I just feel so bad," I say as the tears keep flowing. "I was just telling him right now that I wanted him around for a long time. But in five months I'll be the one going away."

"Charlie is only human," Edward explains. "All humans die sometime, even humans who become vampires. The time that we share with others is precious, and certainly never long enough with those you love. But you have five months to be happy together. And you have five more months than you would have had if I had changed you a couple of months ago."

"But what about him?" I ask.

"He needs to build more relationships in his life," he says. "But don't forget, if Renee hadn't married Phil, he would probably never have had any relationship with you. Things in life happen for a reason and we don't completely know what that reason is.

"Some people call it luck. Others call it fate, determined by some unknown force. And then there are people like Angela and her father call it the hand of God at work. But whatever it is, you have to take your opportunities as they come because they're never coming back."

"And if I had never come to Forks, I would never have met you," I say.

"And I would have spent the rest of my existence in darkness," he adds. "But this conversation has gotten very heavy and philosophical. The important thing to remember is that Charlie has finally gotten the memo on his health and is taking it seriously. And from what I heard, it's all because of you. He doesn't want to see you like Leah."

"Your eyes are looking yellower than the last time I saw you," I comment, as I brush the tears out of my own eyes.

"I just caught myself a nice, big mountain lion," he says. "And it was great!"

Smiling, I hop off his lap and gather my things for my shower. I need to get enough sleep so that I can ace my calculus midterm and show that guidance counselor that I really did learn everything. I look back at Edward before I leave room and he is rather pensively staring out the window.

It's hard to tell what he's thinking, but it's obviously something that he isn't ready to talk about. Oh well, we do have an eternity for that. I am grateful that he appreciates how precious my time left with Charlie is. And I'm glad that _I _decided to come home and finish out the year here before I knew that Charlie was worried about his health. I really want to be here to help him.

_Author's Note: Pat Summerall is one of the greatest collegiate basketball coaches of all time. She coached at Tennessee for 38 years before she had to retire in 2012 with early, onset Alzeimers. I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to making a mention of the great lady. _


	3. Rumination

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 3: Rumination**

Once Bella leaves the room to get ready for bed, I sigh in relief. I have a few things to think about, and I need to listen to Charlie's thoughts. I still haven't completely processed the thoughts that I heard when I was just out on my latest hunting trip, so I focus on them first.

I had run out in my usual direction, which tended towards the boundary line. I smelled a herd of elk, but I just wasn't in the mood for their blood. I wasn't really thirsty, just looking for something to lighten up my eyes a little and improve my mood. I thought of turning away from the line to avoid any mistakes, when I kept the scent of a big cougar that must have been shadowing them.

I kept running parallel to the line, until he came into view up on a tree limb. I knew that he was pretty close to the treaty line because I could pick up the scent of dog; but if I approached the lion from the right angle, I would be able bring him farther into our territory. I wanted absolutely no boundary issues on our second night back and now that I could smell the tangy blood, I wanted it badly.

I easily jumped up into the tree behind him, so I could take him out from both above and behind. It was an easy kill, as I leapt forward. I snapped his neck on the way down, so that I could sink my teeth into his jugular easily when we hit the ground. As always, it was a point of pride that I could feast without getting a drop of blood on my white shirt. Then I heard Jared's thoughts in my head.

_Holy cow! Did you see that Sam? He took out that big cat with a single leap. Wish I could do that!_

I could only catch a whiff of Jared, so I knew that he was playing telephone with Sam back in La Push.

_I was watching, Jared. But before you start some kind of Edward Cullen fan club, just look at him eat! Disgusting parasite! _

I immediately tried to think of something, anything to block out their thoughts, nothing better to ruin a fine meal than the sound of inane wolf chatter in my head. My mind automatically went to music and I attempted to focus on the loudest symphony I could think of, to silence them.

Probably because I was hunting, the _William Tell Overture _came to mind. It wasn't exactly dinner music, but it was better than listening to those two mutts commenting on my meals and eating style. When I'm finished, I start to bury my kill and I pick up their thoughts again. I finish; I flop back on the ground with my hands behind my head and look up into the evening sky.

_It doesn't look like he came out here to bother us, Sam. But I'll stick by him until he gets out of my scent range. And just when the air was cleared of their stink! I don't see why the hell they had to come back._

Yeah, but I'm stuck with your stench, so let's call us even.

_Look, Jared, a deal is a deal. Would you rather be keeping tabs on these guys or the redhead, who was out to kill the tribe? Like it or not, we owe them. And it's only for another five months. Carlisle promised us that they would be gone on June 22._

Thank God!

_How can you be sure that we can trust them? Maybe it's a trick._

Trick my ass! If it were up to me we wouldn't have come back at all. We're doing this for Bella.

_After Bella Swan marries Edward, they have to leave anyway. And that has nothing to do with Carlisle's promise to us. They haven't said so, but you know that she can't stay human and be married to one of them. It would take most of the fun out of marriage, don't you think? And I'm sure that they plan to go wherever that far away place was that they just came back from._

That's a pretty spot on deduction, Sam. And we're not stupid enough to say anything about biting anyone a couple of thousand miles away from here. We won't be the ones to break the treaty.

_Did you ever find out where they went? I thought they went to some place in British Columbia._

_I'm willing to bet that they definitely did not go there. If they are going to disappear from here forever, they don't plan on telling us, no forwarding address. And you know what? That's just fine with me._

Right again, Sam. You get the gold star of the night for solid reasoning skills.

_And that's why Billy says that we have to figure out a way to stop the wedding. We can't let them take Bella away and change her like that. It's breaking the treaty._

Really? Okay, now I can see that listening to your crap is worth it.

_Last time I heard, the treaty didn't have a global reach. Billy is living in la-la-land and so is Jacob. Those two pups get lucky taking down one vampire and they, or rather Jacob, think that they're the top dogs. You saw that chase. All she had to do was jump the river and she would have gotten away, no problem. Nope, those boys didn't take her down. She gift-wrapped herself for them._

Sam, why did you have to be a stinking wolf? I could kind of like you if you were a regular human.

_But we haven't seen her since._

_No, we haven't. And we haven't smelled her either. But we're going to keep running our patrols on our lands. And the Cullens aren't stupid. Don't think that they won't be watching out for her too. But trust me on this. We won't see her again until she wants us to._

Yes, Sam, I do trust you. It's too bad that Billy doesn't.

_Aren't you going to tip off the Cullens about your suspicions? _

_I don't think that I have to. Besides, if I do, Jacob will tell Billy and it will start another fight. I've had enough of the Blacks for a good long time. _

So have I, but I think that we're both stuck with them.

_Do you really think that Billy's vendetta is all about Charlie?_

_First of all, it's not a vendetta. The Cullens haven't done anything except make a treaty. They could have slaughtered the tribe twice, the first time they were here in the thirties and then when they came back and there were no wolves to guard us yet. But his beef with them must have something more to it than just Charlie._

_I wonder why he's just hanging out here? Even vampires must have real lives._

Real lives? C'mon, Jared, you get real! If I'm here, downwind from your odor, I have a reason. And PS, idiot, get with the program! I'm dead. How can I have a life? I'm over here, pretending I don't see you because you don't know that I can read minds, including this whole mind link thing that you've got going on with Jared here. Just keep talking, Sam, and we'll all be happy.

_What else is there for a guy who doesn't sleep to do? Looks like he's stargazing. He's probably thinking about Bella. You sure enough spend a lot of time thinking about Emily. Well, now that you imprinted on Kim, you can't give me any more crap. And speaking of crap, if you think about this conversation when Jacob is phased then I am going to kick your sorry ass from here to Hoquiam and back. Got it?_

Another imprint? Well, what do you know? More wolf puppies to look forward to down the road. We won't be able to return here for two centuries, if ever. The Quileutes may be small, but they sound like good breeders.

_Got it. Okay, listen, am I gonna have to sit out here all night watching this guy?_

I hope not. I want to go to Bella, but I don't want to lose a chance to get any more information out of you.

_No, we can't leave half the perimeter unguarded because one leech decided to chill after dinner. Move out._

_You got it, boss._

Jared took off and after several minutes his thoughts, thankfully, left my mind. He had started thinking on his imprint Kim and it was more than I could stand. As for myself, I had to move along to get to Bella's house. As I was climbing in the window, I could hear Charlie downstairs telling her about his new attitude towards his health. Since I knew everything that he was going to say, I watched Bella's reactions through his eyes.

First she was stunned. Then she looked upset. Charlie was so focused on trying to say what he had to say that he didn't even realize the impact that his words were having on her. For myself, I was a little confused by her reaction, or better put, overreaction. 

Charlie was telling her all about how Harry's second episode was a wake up call for him to get to a doctor, get himself checked out, and change his ways. This is a _good_ thing. It's something that she had been hoping that he would do for months. And he said nothing about feeling sick himself. He didn't want to really worry her.

But when she came up here just now, she was crying like he told her that he had a brain tumor or something. She feels guilty, but Charlie's present state of health has nothing to do with her leaving him for a few months. Charlie had been living an unhealthy lifestyle for years. It's finally catching up with him. And if she weren't here, he probably wouldn't be doing a damn thing about it.

In his mind, I can hear his worries about potential symptoms of health issues. He has experienced shortness of breath and headaches for the past year. He is aware that he has been using alcohol as a "sleeping pill." He knows that he has been more tired than usual, and that none of this is due to normal aging. On weekends, he has been doing less fishing and more napping, due to lack of energy.

During the months that Bella was away, he often fell asleep in front of the TV instead of going to bed. He lacked the incentive to cook anything for himself and had been living on junk food and take out. He could feel himself gaining weight, but he just didn't care. In fact, he didn't realize it, but his most disturbing symptom was that he didn't care.

Of course, that's not something that most people would regard as a symptom. Even now, as he is sitting downstairs, his mind is divided between the basketball game on the TV set and his present state of life. He feels good about the talk that he just had with Bella. He is just happy that he was able to say so much to her about himself for once. It was a huge step forward. But he doesn't feel the kind of relief that he thought that he would.

He had assumed that after he told Bella that he was going to take better care of himself, that this would automatically make him care about his life and where it is going. But he didn't get that positive response from himself. He cares about his health for Bella's sake, but not for his own. This is _his _issue that he has to resolve for himself. Whether Bella stays or goes, is really immaterial to him.

None of us can make Charlie happy. Of course if he improves his health and starts to feel better physically, then it will lift his mood. But in order to get to the root of all his issues, he is going to have to swallow his pride and see a shrink. I can see flickers of the life he thought he had and lost. He truly loved Renee more than she ever loved him.

It nearly broke his heart when she walked out the door with his baby girl. No wonder Bella was so reluctant to use that "nuclear option" when she had to force him to let her go. I knew back then that he would take her back in a heart beat, because until she remarried, he would have taken back Renee. The only thing that kept him sane all those years ago was his friendship with Billy. And when Billy's wife died giving birth to Jacob, he was there for Billy.

He and Billy are closer than most brothers. I suspect that is part of the reason that Billy is fighting so hard to keep Bella in Forks. She must feel like a niece to him. But Billy isn't facing reality either. Charlie knew that Bella had never really wanted come to Forks. He thought hard about it after she left last fall. It was only then that he realized that her contentment to stay with him came from the fact that I was here.

His reconstruction of the Phoenix events centers around the fact that if he had gone to try and get her, she wouldn't have come home. She would have returned with Renee to Jacksonville. And if I hadn't been here or gone down to bring her back, she also would have returned with Renee. It had been hard for him to face up to the fact that I was the key to his second chance at a relationship with his daughter.

This is where Dr. Weber had been invaluable. Throughout the months that Bella was gone a subtle tug of war had gone on between Weber and Billy. Dr. Weber wasn't, and still isn't, entirely sold on the teenage marriage thing, but he was counting on Carlisle to back him up if he determined that we weren't ready. Billy thought that Weber had been sucked in by Carlisle.

He even told Charlie that when he had confided his thoughts to the man he considered his best friend. Billy had told him flat out that he expected Carlisle had offered Weber some big bribe to marry us. Fortunately, Charlie knew enough about Angela's father to know that. He was a man of sterling character and integrity. He knew that he would never stoop that low.

But he refused to accept that maybe Billy was trying to steer him wrong. He just figured that he didn't know him well enough. He also has some vague notion that Jacob has a crush on Bella and had always been kind of "sweet on her." While he thought very highly of Jacob, he could never see Bella happy living at La Push for the rest of her life, even if it would mean that she would always be close to him.

I really feel bad for him that he has no idea of how to talk to his daughter unless he has a specific topic in mind. He has actually developed some good, solid ideas about their relationship. But that's how he is with everyone around him. He just can't articulate his own feelings.

The only folks that he feels truly comfortable with are Billy and Harry. And that's too bad, especially since Harry is the one who is more rational about things. I have no doubt that Harry's present focus is on his family and his health. It has to be. The first time he was in the hospital Sue was royally pissed at him. This time he had to look his kids in the eye and see their fear at the possibility of losing him. He can't be there for Charlie, so it is just Billy.

So Billy and Jacob want to stop the wedding? I have a feeling, and I hope I'm right, that one is all Billy. Wolf or not, Jacob is a high school kid, who is still nursing the wound of losing his childhood crush to an older (and richer) guy. It's not like _Jacob_ can marry Bella. My great fear is that now we are back, Billy is going to start working on Charlie again to break us up.

And Jacob, I could feel the anger rolling off him when we had out meeting at Christmas. Now, I'm not just the rival. I'm the enemy. I'm the reason that he's a wolf. I am why the wolves exist. He is committed to destroy me to protect the tribe. And all of those feelings have become mixed up in what has morphed from a rivalry to animosity. Jacob also wants to break us up for more personal reasons. He doesn't want _her _to become his enemy.

But all that convincing Charlie to reject me again would accomplish is Bella moving out of the house again, and Charlie sinking further into his depression. Bella is set on her path. She has had the opportunity to live in a community of vampires. She knows exactly what her life will be and that's what she wants. Short of kidnapping or killing her, there is nothing that Billy or Jacob can do to stop that.

I wonder why Bella is taking such a long shower. She only does that when _she _is ruminating over various things. Charlie gave her a lot to think about, but it wasn't much more than she had before. Maybe the fact that now Charlie is facing up to things himself, means that she has to as well. The water has been running so long, that I'm afraid that she's going to use up all the hot water in the house.

I am unsure of how much I should tell her about my eavesdropping on Jared, Sam, and Charlie's thoughts, I decide to call Carlisle. I had promised not to hold back things to protect to her. But I am not inclined to give her too much information about Charlie. Naturally Carlisle picks up at once and I tell him the story at vampire speed and ask for his opinion.

"Say nothing about Charlie," he advises. "As I said before, that is something that he should have the opportunity to tell her himself. As far as the wolf information is concerned, there isn't a whole lot to say there. You should certainly tell her that while you were hunting you overheard their thoughts.

"And it's nothing new that Billy wants to break you two up. She should also know Sam's opinion of the future. That should make her feel better. But don't say anything related to Charlie. I think that considering what you told me about her response to Charlie just saying that he wanted to see a doctor, she won't be able to conceal her feeling to him."

"Do you think that she's overreacting?" I ask.

"Yes, but don't tell her that," he replies. "Yes, she is feeling guilty, but saying anything like that won't make her feel less guilty. Give her time to absorb what she heard. From what you told me about his thoughts, she will be getting some real bad news when the tests come back. Give her to time to adjust."

"Okay, she just turned off the water," I reply. "See you tomorrow."

After about ten minutes, I hear her going downstairs to say goodnight to Charlie and then comes into the room.

"How do you do that?" she asks.

"Do what?" I ask, puzzled.

"Sit in that chair for so long in the exact same position," she says.

"You'll find out when you're a vampire," I answer. "The most natural position for a vampire is whatever one he's in. It is more in our nature to be still than to move. Around humans, all of our movements need to be conscious like, say, crossing your legs or playing with your hair."

"So then you have to consciously move to play with my hair?" she says.

"In the beginning, I did it because I liked to," I say. "Now I do it out of habit. Your hair is so soft and lovely. It's a pleasure."

She turns pink at the compliment and gets into bed.

"I need to sleep if I'm going to ace that exam tomorrow," she says, as she makes room for me.

"Good idea," I reply, climbing in beside her.

She curls up against me with her head on my shoulder and falls asleep right away. But her sleep is restless as she moves and talks aimlessly saying my name and Charlie's. She worried about him; that much is obvious. Around eleven, I hear Charlie coming up the stairs with the intention of checking on her, so I slip into the closet. He opens the door and looks in.

_Poor kid. Look at her lying there all tangled up in her sheet and comforter. Maybe I keep the house too cold. This the second night I've come up here and found her all huddled up like that. I hope that I don't get any really bad news from the doctor. Even if I do, maybe I can avoid telling her until after she's married and living away from home._

_That way she can start college feeling happy. And I know that Edward will take good care of her. They're both really just kids, but Carlisle won't let them live in poverty or anything. That Edward has a bright future. I can just see him working in a hospital like his Dad. And who knows? Maybe Bells will end up being a teacher or something. _

_I'm glad that she's going to have a real family to take care of her. I've never felt like I was any kind of a good father. But what could I have done? Forks is my life. And there was no way that I was going to fight Renee when she wanted to take her. I can barely take care of her as a teenager. How the hell could I have cared for her as a baby? _

_All I want is for her to be happy now. I know that Billy thinks that Edward is the wrong guy for her, but I can't keep second-guessing her choice or I'm going to lose her. And if they're not right together, I trust Weber to figure it out. Like he said, there's no reason why they can't go to college together and then get married. It would give them a chance to grow up a little more. But I can't take fighting with her anymore. It's making her too unhappy._

He closes the door silently, and when I hear him go to his own room and close the door, I return to Bella. Out of habit, she turns to me again and snuggles close. She's got to be the only human in the world that is comfortable cuddling up to an ice cube. For the rest of the night, I turn Charlie's words over in my mind. Carlisle is right. I need to let Bella and her father work things out for themselves.

Before I slip out the window the next morning, I tell Bella what I heard from Jared and Sam's thoughts. She doesn't seem at all surprised or worried. However between Charlie and her calculus midterm, she doesn't have a whole lot of room left for thinking about any other nerve-wracking subjects.

When Alice and I meet up with her in the parking lot at school, Alice runs over and gives her a hug.

"Don't worry, Bella!" she says. "Your calculus final is going to be fine!"

"Charlie . . . " Bella begins.

"That won't work because I don't know," Alice says. "He doesn't know anything yet, so he can't make decisions. And don't forget that! You don't know anything either. So stop imagining the worst!"

"How do you know that I'm imagining the worst?" she asks suspiciously looking over at Alice's shoulder at me.

"Because I can see it on your face!" Alice answers following her gaze. "Now stop that or you won't focus on your math exam!"

"Okay," Bella says taking a deep breath. "I can do this!"

"Of course, you can," I say easily as she walks over to take my hand.

I walk her to her classroom where the guidance counselor is going to proctor the test. I give her a kiss on the cheek and after suffering the withering glare of the counselor, go over to my own classroom. I greet Varner, who nods briefly at me and settle in to watch Bella take her exam. I start with the counselor's mind.

_Absolutely ridiculous the way that we've catered to their whims! I don't know what the Cullens are thinking encouraging those two children to get married! Look at her now, sitting there so smugly._

I do look at Bella and see her sitting there confidently. Katie taps her on the shoulder and gives her the thumbs up.

_"Isabella Swan! Please move your desk forward against the board!"_

Bella obediently moves her desk up.

_Oh, give me a break! Does she really think that Bella would cheat?_

Even Katie has gotten the memo that the guidance department is out for her.

_Ha! I bet she thought that Katie and Bella were passing along some secret code or something. Stupid idiot! _

It's really unusual to hear something like that from Jessica, but who knows? Maybe she's going to turn over a new leaf. I look down at my own final and sigh. How dull! I have more fun, looking at the calculus class midterm through Katie's eyes. Compared with the practice problems we were doing yesterday, Bella should ace it. I switch over to the sour mind of the counselor who is staring intently at Bella.

She is working intently without stopping. There is no hesitation in her writing. A couple of times, she even smiles in satisfaction. I am pleased when I see that she is done a half hour early, and flips the exam back to the first page to check her answers.

As she reviews each page, she makes no changes. I heave my own sigh of relief. She is infamous for changing right answers to wrong answers. But she doesn't erase a thing. When she is done, she stretches her arms out behind her and smiles sweetly at the counselor.

_I wonder if she got an advance copy of the test. I better make sure that Varner followed the security procedures correctly._

Go ahead, you fool, ask away. Then you'll be able to add Varner to the list of people that you've pissed off this semester. It is a relief when I can hand my exam in and wait for the bell to ring. As soon as it does, I'm out the door and moving (at human speed) to Bella's exam room. But before I can get there, she greets me with a hug.

"How do you think you did?" I ask, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I don't want to jinx myself," she replies. "But I think that I got all the answers correct. I couldn't find any mistakes."

"I'm proud of you!" I say, omitting the part where I was spying on her the whole time. "Are you ready for lunch?"

"Yes, I am!" she says cheerfully and takes my hand.

As we walk towards the cafeteria, we run into Alice talking with Angela and Ben about their exam.

"How did you think it was?" Angela asks Bella anxiously.

"Not so good," she says. "I got so confused that I think I failed. And you?"

"I feel pretty good about it," she says.

Alice rolls her eyes.

_Angela got an A- and Bella got a perfect score. I don't know what that girl's problem is._

I do. Angela just can't get it out of her head that she's not doing well unless she's perfect. It's too bad, because she makes herself very unhappy about everything. But for now, Bella seems to have put her Charlie worries aside. She is glowing with her math exam success. I search the minds in the school looking for Mr. Varner's.

_Oh for crying out loud! Why doesn't that woman just give it a rest? Bella Swan is a better than average student. I'm sure that it wasn't just the private tutoring that helped her out while she was in the hospital. She was probably dragging herself down with all that negative self-image stuff. _

_From what everyone says, she is a lot more confident and happy. I never like to see a student break down like she did, but whatever treatment she received has certainly helped her out. What a life she's had between those two parents of hers! What's wrong with a kid finally getting the help she needed? What's so bad about seeing her be so succesful?_

From Varner's mind I can pick out the comments of Berty and Jefferson, who told him about her A+ results on the finals she took yesterday. Apparently the counselor is making everyone grade Bella's exams first. I like his explanation for her success.

If he tells his colleagues, word will get around town that Bella has improved mentally and emotionally from time away. And that will make everything a lot easier. In a kind of cynical way, I'm hoping that word gets back to La Push. It might shut Billy up for a while. But then again, maybe it won't.

_Author's Note: Thanks to all of my great readers and reviewers from my last story! You guys are awesome! _


	4. Worries

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 4: Worries**

It's Monday morning, the first day of my final semester in high school, and I feel ready to face the world. We have just come to the end of a long four-day weekend. Even though it should have been a relaxing time, I spent a lot of my time worrying about Charlie, how his appointment went with the doctor, and then all of the tests he would have to have.

Charlie was much less stressed out about it than I was. I suppose that he had already come to grips with the fact that he hadn't been taking good care of himself over the years and he had to stop avoiding the obvious. On the other hand, I had really only entered his life ahead ago. And I had been been ignoring and denying a lot of the symptoms that I had seen.

However, with the support of my new family, I feel much better about facing things down the road. It was very hard for me to do, but I had to figure out for myself that I couldn't make changes in Charlie's life for him. He had to do it himself. And there was never going to be a good time for me to disappear from his life. I just had to decide for myself when the time was right.

After my Calculus and Spanish midterms on Tuesday, I went back to the Cullen house with Edward and Alice. Alice drove there in my car so that we could compare notes on the Spanish exam. It was difficult to absorb the fact that I really had done well in two subjects that I had never felt very confident in.

"I can't believe that I ever thought that Spanish was hard!" I said as we turned out of the school parking lot. "But I suppose that after all of my hours speaking Spanish with Carmen, it finally stuck in my head. And the reading comprehension and writing sections were easy too. I wonder if I'm going to get in trouble for using vocabulary that we weren't taught in school."

"Not going to happen," Alice assured me. "That happens to us all the time. Edward says that it doesn't bother Mrs. Goff at all. In fact, sometimes she has to look the words up for herself. It helps her to learn more Spanish. She's not a native speaker, you know."

"Well, that's good," I said. "Now all that I have to worry about tomorrow is physics and I'm home free."

"For the next four days until school starts up again," she replied. "And we're going to the mall one day. No complaints!"

"I won't complain as long as Esme comes too," I answered.

Alice pouted, but didn't say anything. Once Esme knew that I wanted her there, she would be happy to join us. But Alice had also begun to feel a little jealous because Esme and I were now so close. One thing that Alice hadn't counted on while we were in Alaska, was that I would spend more time with Esme than with her. And while our best friend/sister status was intact, I had become much closer to Esme.

It wasn't anything personal, it was just that Alice and Jasper liked to hang out with the other "young people," and as a human, I couldn't keep up. The few times that I went out with Edward, I was limited by the amount of time that my body could handle the cold. I couldn't do any of the fun things that they were doing that involved running and jumping.

There were times that I insisted that Edward go out and have fun with them. I knew that although he would never complain and he wanted to spend as much time with me as possible, there were times when he needed to go run around and have fun with the others. So it was Esme, who was my companion when she wasn't overseeing the work on the house.

Of course Carmen was my other buddy. Like me, she was quiet and sometimes felt as overwhelmed by her more boisterous sisters as I was by my future brother and sisters. Like me, she also loved them dearly, so I provided her with another companion, who preferred the indoors. She was also terribly proud of me. By the time we left, I was very nearly fluent in Spanish.

"Wait until you are a vampire," she said as I was leaving. "You must also learn French and Italian. We have so many books in the European languages to read and centuries to read them. And then we can discuss them in their languages."

Of all of those folks that I left behind in Alaska, it was Carmen that I kept in touch with everyday by phone or email. When we spoke on the phone, it was always in Spanish. That was so that I could practice, but it also meant that I didn't have to censor my conversations. One night Charlie overheard me talking to her.

"Who is Carmen?" he asked, when I got off the phone on Thursday night.

"She was my private nurse," I replied, lying easily. "She was very helpful to me while I was there and I still call her when I want some advice."

"Were you just speaking in Spanish?" he asked.

"Yes, she was helping me to keep up with my class," I answered. "In fact, I improved my spoken Spanish so much that she says that I am almost fluent."

"That's great, Bells," he said. "And you said that you think you did well on all your finals?"

"I feel really confident," I replied. "There wasn't a whole lot to do other than study and watch movies while I was in the hospital. I decided that I wanted to prove to my teachers that I was keeping up with my work."

"But you won't know how you did until Monday," he said.

"That's when we get them back," I said. "And my first semester scores go to all my colleges too."

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Colleges. But you won't hear from them for awhile."

"Not until spring," I answered.

I knew that he was nervous about that. I hadn't applied to any schools close to home. No matter what, I was determined to set things up so that I could say that I was going somewhere in the northeast. But he had other things on his mind the night we discussed that. The next day he was going to Dr. Gerandy for his full physical. Even though he wasn't expecting a completely clean bill of health, he was afraid of what he might find.

After my own anxious night on Monday because he told me that he was finally going, Carlisle sat down with me on Tuesday afternoon and explained that I was getting myself all worked up without cause.

"You've been hoping that Charlie would go to the doctor for a check up for a long time," he said. "Now he is. You should be glad about that. With any luck, no matter what the doctor finds, it can be managed with the right medications and lifestyle changes. And he is doing his best to improve his eating and drinking habits."

"I know that you can't diagnose him," I said. "But what would you look for?"

"Well, to start with, there's his weight," he answered. "That indicates the possibility of high blood pressure, which he can measure in the office. There are medications for that. Other things like high cholesterol and diabetes need blood work. Gerandy will probably want to give him a stress test. But anything else is pure speculation."

"And you aren't going to speculate," I said.

"No, and neither should you," he said. "We don't even know if he's had any worrying symptoms. He hadn't been complaining about anything, has he?"

"No, none other than the fact that his pants are too tight. But I don't think that he'd tell me anyway," I answered.

"He probably wouldn't," Carlisle agreed. "Because he doesn't want you to _worry! _Now why don't you find Edward and go have some fun. Or you could study for your physics midterm."

"I should probably study for my physics midterm," I said.

So I wandered off downstairs where Edward and Jasper were trying to play some kind of video game. It was funny to watch because the game couldn't go as fast as their minds and hands. Alice was watching and shaking her head.

"Why do they bother?" she asked me. "Sooner or later one of them is going to get angry and throw something."

"Well right now I could use some help studying for my physics midterm," I said.

"I'll help you," she offered.

But Edward was already at my side.

"No, I will," he said. "I'm done with that game for a while anyway."

"Thanks because you were losing," Jasper said. "You want to try, Alice?"

"No," she replied. "I can think of lots better things that I can do with you.

And with that they were upstairs.

"Oh well," Edward sighs. "Let's see what we can do about that physics."

And so of course, physics went perfectly well on Wednesday morning, and then we were free. I felt very light-hearted as I drove out to the Cullens' house. I was also quite proud of myself because I no longer needed to follow someone out there. I could find the turn by myself. That made Edward happy because he didn't have to drive at human speed anymore.

I did my best to follow Carlisle's advice and focus on the good things happening around me. On Thursday, Alice, Esme, and I went to the mall, where they helped me pick out some new outfits. Alice insisted that I try on outrageously expensive clothing, and then Esme supported me when I wanted to buy more midrange priced things. Aside from the fact that I thought it was a waste of money, I felt very self-conscious wearing designer clothes.

Friday was the big day. Charlie was going to the doctor for his physical around nine. After he had gone out for his physical, Edward came over to keep me company. He figured that if I waited alone, I might go out of my mind. After a half hour or so, he began to grumble.

"You really should have come to my house," he complained. "There's a lot more for us to do there.

This was true, but I wanted to be here when Charlie came home. He had taken the morning off and was coming home for lunch. Since I had come home, I really hadn't done much about cleaning the house and there was a pile of laundry to do. I needed the mindless physical activity to keep my hands and body moving while I tried not to think too hard about anything.

"If you're that bored," I said in reply. "Then why don't you go home and I'll come over after lunch."

"No," he said. "I want to be here for you. And I will drive everyone at home crazy if I go back without you. I'll go see what's on TV."

As soon as he turned away from me, I rolled my eyes. As usual he was trying to take care of me. In this case there was no danger, he just wanted to make sure that he was there as "back up" when Charlie returned. So I cleaned and he pretended to watch some random sports game. At about 11:30, I was in the kitchen making chef salads for lunch, when I heard Charlie come in.

"Hey, Edward!" he said. "Bella told me you were going to keep her company. Did you help her clean the house?"

"Actually," Edward admitted. "I sat here and watched sports."

"I guess you're practicing to be a husband," he said, with a laugh that didn't sound quite genuine. "I hate to tell you, but with all this women's lib stuff, the girls expect us to help out around the house. Don't be fooled by her now. After the wedding, it's all downhill from there."

"I heard that," I said, walking in from the kitchen. "Lunch is ready."

They followed me into the kitchen. Edward declined the salad saying that he would eat a sandwich when he got home.

"Let me give you a piece of advice, son," Charlie said in a confidential tone to Edward. "Her cooking is real good. When you have to split the chores with just make sure that she does the cooking."

"I believe that Carlisle already gave me that bit of advice," he answered.

"Well, considering what a good cook your Mom is, he didn't steer you wrong," Charlie replied grinning.

I had to bite my tongue before I made a snarky remark about Charlie hardly being the person to give marital advice. Edward was smirking, so I could tell that whatever was in Charlie's mind, it wasn't his health. But I preferred to feed him before he laid the bad news on me.

"Well, Bells," said Charlie when he was done eating. "It's a good thing that you know how to cook healthy meals. Because Dr. Gerandy wants me to lose about forty pounds."

"Forty pounds?" I asked in shock.

"That will make me just overweight rather than obese," Charlie admitted. "And he's given me a prescription for some kind of high blood pressure medicine. You might know about this, Edward. How bad is 270/200?"

"Pretty bad," Edward replied. "I'm surprised that you haven't had a heart attack."

"So is Gerandy," he grimaced. "I was hoping that he was exaggerating. And tomorrow morning, I have to go to some diagnostic place in Port Angeles for a bunch of blood tests and something called a stress test. Then on Monday, he wants me to go to Olympia for some kind of scans to check out my heart. He didn't like what he heard, was talking about some kind of stint or something."

"Stent," Edward said. "It's a pretty minimally invasive procedure. They basically put these tiny tubes into your arteries to unclog them so that the heart can pump more easily."

"Yeah," Charlie said. "I guess that sounds right. And he says the cholesterol is probably too high. And he took a blood sugar sample from, you know, my pee, and that was too high. So I'm not allowed to eat before I had the blood tests tomorrow. One of them is what they call a fasting glucose or something."

"That's for Type 2 diabetes," Edward said. "Did he explain that?"

"I'm afraid so," Charlie replied. "It means that I won't be able to eat any of the good stuff anymore. And I'm going to have to exercise. But if I expect to lose weight, then I'm going to have to exercise anyway. But, boy, old Gerandy sure doesn't take any prisoners. He really yelled at me for letting myself go like this."

"I'm glad he did," I replied, getting up to clear the table. "Or I would have. I'm going to drive you for those tests tomorrow if you can't eat before them. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Bells. I didn't realize how far out of shape I had gotten. But Gerandy says that if I turn myself around, I can really make some big improvements. He said that if I wanted to be around for those grandchildren I'm going to have someday, then I better get on it now."

I turned to the sink, because I couldn't look him in the eye for that one. I felt guilty because not only wouldn't there be any grandchildren, I'm was to be gone from his life in six months. But maybe if he felt better and he went out to do more things, he would have some kind of life outside of his job, his sports, and his fishing.

"Oh, look at the time!" Charlie said. "I need to get to work. I'll be working late tonight to make up for missing the morning. See you later!"

"See you later, Dad," I said quietly.

"Hey, kid! Don't worry!" Charlie said. "I'm going to take care of myself. I promise. Edward, you make sure that she doesn't worry."

"I'll do my best," Edward replied. "See you later."

After Charlie was gone, Edward came over to me, slipped his arms around my waist, and kissed the top of my head.

"Really, Bella," he said. "I know that sounded like a lot, but most of it is interrelated. And a lot of it can be improved if he changes his diet, exercises, and loses weight. The rest of it will be helped by medication."

"That's not what I'm upset about," I replied.

"What is it then?" he asked.

"It was when he was talking about sticking around for his grandchildren," I answered.

"Are you beginning to regret the fact that you won't be able to have kids?" He asked in surprise.

"No, not at all," I said. "It's more than that. It's not just that Charlie won't have grandkids. It's that in six months he won't even have me."

"Bella, if you are having any worries that you may be doing this too quickly, then you don't have to," he answered. "If you want, you can wait until we finish college. I have never wanted to force you into a decision based on an arbitrary timeline. I am going to have you forever. I can certainly wait four extra years, if you want to have them with Charlie."

"But you were so disappointed when I didn't want you to change me last fall," I said as I considered his words.

"Bella, how many time do I have to tell you?" he said patiently. "This is about you, not me. You are literally giving up your life to be with me. There is no greater gift that anyone can give to anyone else. The only regret that I will have is if you do this too quickly and without thinking through all of the ramifications that you will be unhappy later. Once you are changed, you don't get a do over. It's all or nothing."

"I know that," I answered, feeling subdued. "It's just that all of this seemed so much simpler when we were up in Alaska. I was going to come back here, finish high school, and get married. But it's not that easy, is it?"

"It's never been that easy," he agreed. "And that's why it's good that you did come back. And it's good that you made that decision for yourself. This is another choice that is all yours to make. The only one who's going to be really disappointed if we don't get married in June is Alice."

"Won't you be disappointed?" I asked.

"I'll get over it," he answered. "Like I said before, I have a much different perception of time than you do. But there is something else that you need to consider. You may stick around for Charlie for a few years longer, but he's never going to have any grandchildren."

"I know," I said.

"Bella," he said in reply. "Children are not something that you have because you want to give your parents grandchildren. You have them because you want them. Now _please _be honest with me. Is this about you or Charlie?"

"It's about Charlie," I admitted with a sigh, as he looked relieved. "If he hadn't said anything about it, I wouldn't have even considered it. And even as I think about it now, if I'm going to be eighteen forever, I don't see why I would ever want kids. I mean, I'm going to spend the rest of my existence with you, sometimes moving around with Carlisle and Esme going to high school and college."

"And sometimes traveling around the world," he added. "It's not that I'm trying to sell you on the life or anything, but there's a whole big world out there for us to explore. And even if I've been there before, it's going to be a whole new experience seeing it with you."

"It's just going to be so hard to say goodbye to him," I replied wistfully.

"No matter when you say goodbye, it will be hard," he answered. "The best that you can do is spend these five months with him doing the best you can to enjoy them and make them a happy time for both of you. But even if you waited to change, you would still be going away to college on the opposite coast and wouldn't see him very much."

"So then he is the one who really needs to be making a new life for himself," I said slowly. "I can't do it for him."

"It's his life and his choices," he replied. "Do you want to stay here or go back to my house?"

"Let's go to your house," I said. "I want to go visit the Crumbling Cottage."

"And why is that?" he asked with a smile.

"I just want to remind myself that it's about my life," I answered. "And whenever we're there, my future with you feels so much more _real."_

"Sounds good to me!" he answered cheerfully.

After I finished, we went out to drive to his place in the Volvo. When we got there, the only one home was Esme.

"How did things go with Charlie?" she asked, looking up from some blue prints.

"About as we expected," I said. "He has to go for more tests tomorrow and Monday. Dr. Gerandy already told him that he has to lose weight, eat better, and exercise more. Hopefully the tests won't turn up anything too bad."

"Whatever it is, we'll help you both through," she replied. "Now if you will excuse me, I have some work to do with these."

Edward and I walked out to the yard by the river. Then I jumped on his back and he took a flying leap. When we were over, he took my hand and we walked through the woods until we found it. It hadn't changed at all in the months that we were gone. I sat on the stonewall and looked at what most people probably thought looked like a pile of rubble. But to me, it looked magical.

"It's a pity that we can't just move all these rocks up to Alaska for our cottage up there," Edward commented.

"But aren't we going to return here someday?" I asked.

"Not for at least a couple of centuries," Edward replied. "When I was out listening to Jared and Sam the other night, it seems that Jared has imprinted on a girl also. So now two of them have mates. That means at least one more generation of potential wolf puppies.

"Of course, the gene skipped two generations until we came back. It may be that unless the tribe leaves the area for a more modern lifestyle, we can never come back here without triggering the wolves. However, as long as they live with these old traditions and legends they will know that we exist. And that's a dangerous thing for them."

"That would be too bad," I said. "But you didn't tell me much about what they were thinking that night."

"Well, let's see," he answered with a smirk. "They were commentating on my meal and how disgusting it was to them. I have a feeling that neither of them has ever tried eating his wolf form. Talk about gross!"

"Now I know that they must have said more," I pressed him.

"Well," he said. "They were talking about Billy and Jacob. Billy is apparently pushing for Jacob to take a larger role in the pack. And since Jacob and Embry took out Victoria, Billy had kind of been feeding Jacob's ego. But it's mostly an irritation for them now."

"Is Billy going to try and interfere with us and the wedding?" I asked.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Billy still wants to try to break us up," he said. "He doesn't want to see you marry me because he knows that it means that I will turn you into a vampire. Technically that breaks the treaty, no biting humans. However, Sam doesn't care if we get married as long as I turn you far away from here.

"He doesn't feel responsible for your choices. He also doesn't want to have to go hunting for us. It would kind of defeat the purpose of existing to guard the tribe. He also doesn't think that he could find us."

"But Billy doesn't want to give up," I said.

"It doesn't matter," he replied. "You gave Charlie a big scare when you moved out of the house and then when your anxiety sent you over the top and we had to get you away from Forks. He has completed accepted the fact that you are going to marry me. In fact, when he came in from the doctor's appointment and saw me watching TV he had a vision of him and me watching together. He's gone from looking for ways of breaking us up, to looking for ways that he and I can get along."

"But then we will leave," I said.

"Bella, you have to get over that," he said. "I don't want you to be unhappy. There are a lot of things that I can and will do for you. But I don't see any way that you can remain in Charlie's life without completely confusing him. It would be dangerous for us to even visit Forks.

"And after listening to Sam and Jared, there is absolutely no way that I can change you and we can live anywhere within a thousand miles of here. If I change you here and we stay around, we have broken the treaty. Things would not go well for either side."

"I know," I said. "And I'm sorry that I can't let go of this."

"Bella," he said gently. "You can change your mind up to the very last second. Even if we are married, I will not force you to change. It will just be a little, um, frustrating for both of us."

"Because we'll be married and you still won't make love to me because I'm human," I said. "I still think that you are being overprotective."

"Let's not get into this discussion again," he groaned. "I thought that we had decided that we would wait until after the change."

"Yes, we did," I replied, snuggling up to him.

With all things that I had to think about, I guessed that sex was at the bottom of the list of priorities for now. And I didn't want to bring it up, but I had a feeling that the issue of children was certainly going to come up with Dr. Weber. That was going to be a very interesting conversation. I had a feeling that all of those conversations would be.

I didn't return home too late on Friday night because I had to be up early to drive Charlie. After they drew the blood, he claimed that that just have at least taken a quart. Then they put him on a treadmill for the stress test. By the time we got home, he was feeling light-headed, so I made him a healthy breakfast and sent him to bed to rest. Then I drove over to visit Edward.

I basically spent the next two days with the Cullens. After Charlie "recovered" from his "dreadful" experience, he went over to La Push to compare notes with Harry. Then he went fishing with Mark on Sunday, while I went to church and hung out with the Cullens again. Dr. Weber was pleased to see us and reminded us that we needed to set up out counseling sessions. I promised to stop off at the rectory after school today.

Today is probably the first time that I've ever looked forward to going back to school to get exams back. At the end of the day, they would also be posting the honor roll and class ranks. I had not idea of where I might rank, other than below Edward and Alice, but I knew that I should make the first honor roll again.

English and History's grades are completely expected. Edward grins at me when I show him my papers. Angela looks absolutely relieved. As usual, she worried for nothing. Everyone else looks happy or relieved except for Lauren. She got her usual poor grades that she lets everyone know it by slamming her books around.

The most nerve-wracking test to get back is calculus. But Mr. Varner smiles when he gives me back my paper. I flip through the pages looking for the check marks for incorrect answers, but there are none. When I get to the back page, I see the grade, an A+, with a very large 100% written beside it with an exclamation point. My mouth drops open in shock. Oh. My. God! I have done well in math before, but never this well.

When the bell finally rings, I go running out the door to find Edward.

"Do you know?" I demand.

"Yes, I saw it in Varner's mind when he gave you back your exam," he answers. "But it was much more fun watching your expression through his eyes. By the way, he's very proud of you."

"Well, I'm very proud of me," I reply.

At lunch everyone is talking about the exams and grades and where all of this puts us in the class rank. My afternoon class exams are scored the same as the morning classes. In fact, Mrs. Goff asks me if I had any kind of special tutoring. So I just real her that my private nurse was Spanish and she helped me a lot. The last class of the day is Phys Ed, but even that can't spoil my good mood. There is a surprise waiting for me on the lists posted outside of the auditorium with the honor rolls and ranks

Alice comes to meet us as walk down the hallway. I can immediately see that she is thinking something to Edward. He looks very unhappy.

"Did you see the lists?" I ask. "What do they say?"

She looks at Edward, who nods to her.

"We all made first honor roll," she says quietly.

"And?" I ask.

"We aren't included in the class ranking because we were away for most of the first semester," she says. "Eric is the number one student in the class. Angela is number two."

"I'm very happy for her," I say immediately trying to hide my disappointment. "Does she know?"

Edward gets a very funny look on his face.

"Yes, she does," he says. "But I think that it would be better if we left quickly and quietly now. You can congratulate her tomorrow."

"Okay," I say puzzled by the fact that he and Alice are trying to get me out if there as quickly as possible.

"Come on, Bella," Alice says. "Don't you want to ask Charlie how his tests went?"

"Charlie!" I exclaim running up behind them. "Did you see anything had happening."

"Not at all," she says soothingly. "But why don't we all go over to see him? I think he's a little cranky."

"He's a little cranky," Edward agrees, obviously seeing what she is seeing.

On the way out to the parking lot, we pass Mr. Varner, who stops me for a second.

"Miss Swan," he says. "Congratulations on a job well done. You should be very proud of your accomplishments despite being away."

"Thanks," I say. "But I need to go home and see my Dad."

"Okay," he says. "We'll talk more tomorrow."

"What was that about?" I ask Edward.

But he just shrugs.

"He has a lot on his mind too," he answers. "Why don't I drive over with you?"

"Sure," I say.

But I still think that he and Alice are acting weird. Oh well, as long as Charlie is okay, that's really all that matters. Exams, honor rolls, and class rankings are really a lot less important than my Dad's health. I am disappointed that I wasn't included in the class rank, but my anxiety about Charlie helps me keep it all in perspective.

_Author's Note: Thanks once again for all of your great reviews. They really hell me keep going. I am still not sure about whether I will be able to do another version of _Breaking Dawn. _A lot will depend on how this works out. However, i do plan to do a wedding and honeymoon. _


	5. Upheavel

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 5: Upheaval**

Bella and I had been looking forward to this first day of our last term of high school since we had decided to return to Forks. For us, it represented the last lap, so to speak, of our life before our marriage and her transformation. But it seems as if nothing can ever be simple for us. It took barely twelve hours before the upheaval began.

At the end of the school day, Bella and I start to go over to the auditorium to check out our ranks and which honor roll we were on. The results on Bella's midterms had been outstanding, so we figured that she would have to be third after Alice and me. But before we can get there, Alice intercepts me with her thoughts.

_I think that we should just leave now and go home. The three of us have been kept out of the class rankings because we were away for most of the first semester. There's a storm brewing among some of our classmates, who don't think it's fair._

When Alice meets up with us, she tells us the newsy out the class ranks. Bella is very quiet when she hears it, but doesn't complain a bit. She is even happy for Angela who is number two. We are on our way out to the cars when we run into Varner.

_There she is. I wonder if she knows about the ranking situation. She looks very quiet and subdued, not at all like a kid that just aced all her midterms._

After he greets us and Bella immediately says that she needs to go home and see Charlie, he lets us go. Alice leaves to go back to our house. I am going with Bella to her house so we can find out how Charlie's tests went today.

_This is too bad. Everyone in town knows that Charlie's health has been poor for years. It would be nice if she could have had some good news to bring him. I wonder if she even realizes that she was number three behind Edward and Alice Cullen. The honor rolls go up in alphabetical order so rank isn't evident from them. It's not like she would complain._

I listen around to try and hear what the other students are thinking, but it's pretty much a jumble. Then I hear Angela.

_It's so unfair! Bella worked so hard when she was away and she was sick. How could the school do this?_

Then Newton's thoughts come through.

_This totally ridiculous! It's not like I'm anywhere near the top of the rankings. I just hate it when the administration pulls this crap. Poor Yorkie is embarrassed. Wait until Mom hears!_

But I can't hear any more because we are too far away.

"Oh, darn!" Bella says as we are turning out of the parking lot. "I forgot that I told Dr. Weber that I would stop off today. It will only take a second to set up the appointment."

"You could wait until tomorrow," I suggest. "I'm sure that he will understand."

"No, I'd rather do it and get it over with," she replies.

And I'd rather not do it and forget that I agreed to take part in the whole charade. But once Bella decides on something . . .

"I'll wait in the car," I say. "We both need to go in.

"Coward!" she mutters and then slams the door a little harder than necessary.

It doesn't really matter if I go in or not. I can hear the whole conversation from here. I wasn't planning on saying anything anyway.

_"Hello, Bella!" Dr. Weber greets her. "Are you here to set up your first appointment?"_

_"Yes, sir," she answers._

_"Well," he says. "I'm free most afternoons and evenings why don't you suggest something?"_

_"How about Wednesday or Thursday after school?" she asks._

_"Thursday will work," he replies. "Now there's nothing to be nervous about. We're just going to start by talking a little bit about why you want to get married."_

_(And why you are in such a hurry to tie the knot. It would be easy enough to wait until after college.)_

_"Okay," Bella says. "See you then!"_

_"Goodbye and have a good afternoon," he says._

Great! So he's going to start off right away with the why do you want to get married so young. Why don't you just wait? Okay, I guess that's a logical place to start. I mean, what's the point of getting into the rest of it if we figure out that we aren't ready for marriage. And I will admit that a few days ago, I was asking Bella the same thing, except it was for reasons that Weber can't even imagine.

"Okay," Bella says, as she gets back in the car. "So we're set for Thursday, but I guess you know that already. What was he thinking?"

"That he was going to press us hard on the issue of marriage right out of high school," I answer. "He is thinking that maybe we should wait until we finish college."

"So is everyone else," she says with a shrug. "It's no big deal."

"Well, it's not a big deal to us because we aren't doing it for any reason that we can explain to him," I reply. "Could you see his face if we told him the truth? 'Sorry, Pastor Weber, we want to get married now so that I can turn Bella into a vampire and she will only be one year older than me for the rest of eternity.'"

"I know that you're right," she says laughing. "But still, we are going to have to figure out what we are going to say."

"We have time," I say. "But right now, I think that we need to go and hear what Charlie has to say."

She sobers up quickly. I am hopeful that whatever the tests showed that he could get results from today, it won't be too bad. As we pull up to the house, I can see Charlie is pacing, but his thoughts as incomprehensible. Their tenor is anxious but not gloomy. By the time we get to the door, he is waiting for us.

"Hey, Bells, Edward!" he greets us. "How was school?"

_I hope she had a good day. She isn't going to like what I have to tell her._

"It was good," I reply quickly. "We got our finals back."

"I got A+ on all of them," Bella says. "And I made first honor roll."

"Well," he says looking happy. "That certainly makes me proud."

_At least one of us did well on her tests._

He follows us into the living room and goes over to sit in his chair, while we sit on the couch together.

"How did your tests go, Dad?" Bella asks nervously.

"Hmm," he answers. "Let's just say that you won't be proud of me. Dr. Gerandy got the results of my blood tests. I have high cholesterol, so I have to take a pill for that. And my blood sugar was high, so that means diabetes. I have a pill for that too. Four pills! He wants me to get one of those weekly pill boxes so that I don't mess up."

_Um, yeah, that's four pills so far anyway._

"That's a good idea," I say. "My Dad always recommends them for people who have more than two pills to take every day."

"Yeah, well I'm not done," he says. "He's putting me on a second high blood pressure pill and a blood thinner. _And _the new doc says that I need three of those stent things. And he's sending me for a cat scan to make sure there's nothing going on in my brain that he needs to treat."

_I'm going to avoid using the word stroke. Hopefully, she won't ask Edward about that thing. She doesn't need to worry about that on top of everything else._

"Okay," I say, putting my arm around Bella's shoulders for support. "It sounds like they're following all the steps."

"Yeah, um, well, all of this stuff is starting to get expensive," he says looking at his hands. "And I'm not sure of how much my insurance will cover."

_You would think that we would get a better deal. But some of these tests aren't covered. And it had forgotten how high that deductible is, and that we had to start over again on January 1. I'm just glad that Carlisle picked up the tab for that fancy place in Canada._

Bella looks at me with concern, but I actually feel relieved. This is what is worrying him and this is something that we can fix. The last thing that Charlie needs is to have anything else to worry about.

"Charlie, you don't have to even think about it," I say. "We can talk to Carlisle. You just get everything done that the doctor orders. And before you start complaining, just remember that in five months you will officially be family. Until then, we still think of you that way."

"I'm not looking for a handout," he protests weakly.

_But I guess that I am. I can't let pride stand in the way of not going bankrupt._

"Don't think of it that way," I reply. "Even if you weren't related, you know how Carlisle is. He would want to make sure that you took care of yourself."

"Yeah, I know," he sighs. "But I'm not done."

_I don't know how I'm going to explain this one. She's going to think that I'm crazy or something._

"There's more?" Bella asks, looking scared.

"It's not as bad as you think," he says. "Dr. Gerandy wants me to see a shrink. He thinks that the reason for my physical issues is partially psychological. He thinks that even though I won't admit it, I'm depressed. But that's not you fault, Bells. I was that way before you got here."

_And if anyone is to blame it's your crazy mother._

"Okay," she says slowly.

_Damn! She's worried! I knew it. I better just get this over with._

"And there's one more thing," he says, pressing his hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. "He wants me to join Weight Watchers. He said that it would do me good to go to meetings where I could talk to other folks with the same problems and have regular weight checks."

_I can't believe this! It's almost enough to make me want to risk the heart attack or the stroke._

No it isn't, Charlie. Keep your mind focused on Bella.

"Well, that would be good," she says, rather definitively. "You don't even own a scale."

"And why do you think that is?" he asks a little sourly. "And I don't intend to either."

"So, if you go to Weight Watchers, then you won't need one," she answers a little tensely.

_Crap! I knew she was going to like this Weight Watchers thing. I bet she buys me a scale anyway. And if she thinks that I can survive on those tiny little frozen dinners, she can dream on!_

"You know," I interrupt, before things get out of hand. "Maybe Carlisle could explain what it all means if he stopped by sometime. I think that the scariest part is that there seem to be so many things that need attention.

"Just as long as he promises not to give me any more pills," Charlie grumbles.

_Or maybe he'll take me off some._

"He's not your doctor," I say soothingly. "So he would not do that. When you are taking so many medications, it's important that you have one doctor coordinating them so that you don't have to worry about any bad interactions."

"That's what Gerandy said," he replies. "He said that he was going to talk to the surgeon in Olympia. But you were right. He said that putting those things in wasn't going to be some kind of open heart surgery or anything."

"Okay," Bella says. "So then you won't complain if I make baked chicken, snow peas, and brown rice for dinner."

_No, I won't, but I'm only going to pretend to like it._

"No, I won't," he sighs. "But I'm sure going to miss desserts."

"I can make a fruit salad," she offers. "How do sliced apples, grapes, and walnuts sound?"

"Sounds better than nothing," he replies. "But I'm sure going to miss apple pie."

"I can look up some sugar-free recipes online," she answers. "And there have to be websites that have special diet suggestions for diabetes and people trying to lose weight."

"They do," he says. "I'm drawing the line at eating any of those stupid frozen Weight Watchers meals that they sell in the store. You know, you should talk to Sue. She's been making Harry some pretty good stuff the last couple of months. The kids will even eat it sometimes."

_Okay, this could work. If I could convince her to go to La Push without Edward, she could talk to Sue. Maybe it won't sound so scary if she talks woman to woman._

"Well, if she has any tricks that will get you to eat better," Bella answers. "I will be happy to learn them."

_Okay, this is my opening._

"Any chance that you would go over there for dinner some night?" he asks. "I don't want to force you, but then you could see the things that she cooks."

I can see in Charlie's mind that he is picturing Sue and Bella looking through her refrigerator and pantry at the different kinds of food that she has. It occurs to me that it would be good for Bella to talk to Sue anyway. Since she's a nurse, she can certainly give her some perspective on the situation. I decide to encourage her.

"You know that could be a good idea, Bella," I say. "And Sue could probably give you some, uh, motivational tips as well."

"Motivational tips," Charlie groans. "That's all I need."

He misses the look of surprise that Bella gives me, but I shrug. None of the Clearwaters are wolves. And besides, I did promise to not be such a control freak. Since Charlie has so strongly come down in favor of the marriage, I don't have to worry about Billy Black interfering in our lives. I would much rather see Charlie as Harry's friend than Billy's. That relationship had slipped a little since Harry had been sick.

"That's good then," Bella says. "But not Thursday. Edward and I have our first premarital counseling session with Dr. Weber."

_Good, maybe Weber will talk sense into them._

Now Charlie's mind is clearly registering relief. The last time he talked to him before we came home, the pastor had promised to go over the whole thing about marriage out of high school versus marriage out of college. Although Charlie doesn't have nearly the same belief that we can be talked out of it as Dr. Weber, he still hoping. Charlie is putting it all down to how stubborn Bella is.

"I'll call Sue tomorrow and see what's good for them," Charlie says. "Most times are good for them, I think. Harry hasn't been doing much lately except go to his council meetings. Sue is working a few more hours. Harry is on disability now, but the money isn't great."

"Does he have a good lawyer?" I ask automatically. "As a Native American, he probably has some legal rights and government assistance that he's not aware of."

I was remembering my conversation with Sam after the kids were killed by Victoria back in the fall. He hadn't fully realized what benefits the tribe might be entitled to because it was part of the council's job.

"I don't know," Charlie replies. "Do you know one?"

"Well, I think that what he would need is someone who specializes in that kind of thing," I answer. "And I that case, no. But I'm sure that if he contacted our local congressman, he could help."

As if Harry would accept help from me along those lines. However, I'm sure that even Carlisle wouldn't know anyone like that either. For some reason, Bella is starting to get restless.

"I need to go and start dinner," she says. "And we have homework do to. Edward, are you going to stay for supper?"

"No," I reply. "I promised Esme that I would be home in time for the family meal. But why don't we go into the kitchen and do our homework while you cook?"

"Sure," she says. "Do you want anything, Dad?"

"I _want _a beer," he replies. "But since I know better than to ask, I'll take a glass of water."

"Dad, I know that this is tough to get used to," Bella says. "But it will get easier."

"If you say so," he grimaces. "By the way, I almost forgot to ask. What's your class rank? What kind of bragging rights do I have on that?"

_I bet she's right behind Edward and Alice._

"I don't have a class rank," she answers.

_What!?_

"Why not?" he asks, looking a little outraged. "With grades like you have, you must be pretty far up the scale."

_Damn it! The poor kid can't catch a break! What the hell is the problem now?_

"Alice and I don't have class ranks either," I say quickly. "Because we were away from school for almost the whole term and got private tutoring. I guess they thought that we had an unfair advantage or something."

_Yeah, it's an advantage to have to do all your work on your own? I bet Esme is a hell of a lot better teacher than the folks they got up at the school. And of course there was that Spanish nurse that she was talking to the other night._

"All three of you?" he asks in surprise. "But you and Alice were away because of Bella. And it's not like Bella was at some big party up there in British Columbia. It sounds to me like she worked damn hard."

"I did," Bella says. "But it's really more unfair to Alice and Edward. They didn't have to be away. The Cullens were there to support me. And it really did help me a lot to have them there."

_Yup! That's what I thought! It's unfair all around. I have a mind to go up to that school and give them what for._

"Well, talk about unfair," he says. "I have a good mind to go over to that high school and give them what for. I don't understand what they have against you. First they keep you out of the honor society for some dumb reason. Then the college counselor acts like you're some dummy about picking your colleges for next year. How many did you apply to?"

"Ten," she says. "But don't worry about the application fees. They're all take care of."

_Figures._

"Carlisle?" Charlie asks.

"No," I say. "When she applied and gave them your financial information they waived them. And technically speaking, since she's just doing that day to day sub thing, Renee isn't really employed."

_Who knew that being poor could help you pay for college?_

"Oh, so then what was that lady thinking when she told me that I was wasting my money if I let Bella apply to those schools?" he asks puzzled. "Especially since Bells didn't have to pay anyway."

"I don't know," I reply. "But it wasn't very hard. And Bella is eligible for a lot of financial aid too."

_That's good. It's always good to have a back up plan._

"So even if you two don't get married before you go," he says slowly. "Then Bella could go wherever she wanted pretty much."

"Pretty much," I say.

"I'm not changing my mind about getting married in June," Bella says stubbornly. "Listen to you two talking about me like I'm not here! I'm going to go make dinner!"

"See what I mean about how stubborn she is," Charlie whispers. "Once she makes up her mind about something, you can't get her to change it for anything."

"I've figured that out," I answer softly. "And she always tells me that I'm overprotective. That's why I'm not saying anything about the class rank thing at school. She will be mad if I stand up for her."

_Of course she will. _

"Does it bother you?" he asks.

_You would think that after the kid works so hard, he would want to be number one._

"Not really," I say. "My grades speak for themselves."

_Pretty modest, I guess he gets it from his Dad._

"But it does bother Bella," he says.

_I can't be sure, but the way she stomped out of here all pissed off at us for no reason is a good indication that she's pissed at someone._

"More than she lets on," I admit. "But she is happy for Angela, who is number two. But I better go into the kitchen or she'll start accusing us of talking about her behind her back."

"And she would be right," Charlie replies. "I have soccer game I want to watch."

I pick my backpack and haul it into the kitchen pretending that it's heavy. Bella is just putting the chicken in the oven.

"Hey, beautiful," I say. "Ready for some homework?"

"I guess so," she says and halfheartedly pulls out her math book.

"Okay, you know that I can't read your mind," I say quietly. "Is this about Charlie or school?"

"Is he listening?" she asks.

"No, he's thinking about the match on TV," I reply.

"A little bit of both," she says. "Well, a little bit about school, but a lot about Charlie. Getting the news about both on the same day helps me to put things in perspective, you know?"

"Yes, I know," I say. "But if we can get Charlie on the right track in terms of his health, then it will be less of a worry. Things haven't gotten so far out of control that they can't be fixed."

"I know," she says. "But I'm surprised that you are willing to let me go to La Push."

"Okay, let's start off by saying that it isn't a matter of me 'letting' you go to La Push," I say. "That is really your decision and it's not fair for me to second guess you. It will make Charlie feel better if you talk to Sue. And that's not really about the diet and stuff. He thinks that Sue can help you understand all the medical things better too.

"But to be honest, I also am not worried about you going to Clearwaters. There are no wolves in that house to lose their tempers. And Charlie is very much on our side as far as the marriage is concerned. He doesn't want to risk anything coming between you and him again, even Billy."

"Wow!" she says. "That's a big switch for you. But what if Billy and Jacob happen to be there too?"

"In that case," I reply. "Just stay by Sue or Charlie. And don't say anything to get Billy, or really Jacob, mad at you. And don't let Billy push your buttons."

"What about Jacob?" she asks.

"I am not sure that Jacob would intentionally push your buttons," I answer. "I think that it is more likely that he would just say something stupid, unintentionally of course."

"Why do you say that?" she asks.

"Because he's fifteen and likely to put his foot in his mouth," I answer smiling. "Just think of all the fifteen-year old boys' minds that I've heard over the years. If you keep that in mind then it won't bug you as much."

"So you're really okay with this?" she asks skeptically.

"Not really," I admit. "But Charlie really wants you to talk to Sue. And you can't make demands about whom the Clearwaters invite to their house. So I'll just suck it up, as Alice would say. But the choice is yours. If you don't want to go without taking my feelings into consideration, I obviously won't mind. But the choice is yours."

"Okay, I'll think about it," she says. "But I better get started on this, or I'll still be doing it tonight."

She sits down with the problem set that Varner gave us. I look briefly at the problems and quickly finish them. She ignores the speed at which I can do them. By time she is finished with her math, I've already finished my physics and Spanish.

"I could do my Spanish as quickly as you do, if I could write as fast," she grumbles.

"Of course you could," I say. "But at least you're ahead in English and history. That just leaves physics."

"Which I will do after you leave," she replies, closing her Spanish book. "I have to finish getting dinner ready."

I pull out my phone to call Carlisle.

"I'm going to need a ride home," I say after I tell him to pick me up. "Of course I could run there faster, but we have to keep up appearances for Charlie's sake."

"Of course," she says as she spoons out some awful looking brown and green stuff onto two plates. "Hey, Dad! Dinner is served."

We hear the TV clicked off, and Charlie comes in looking mournfully at his healthy dinner.

_I really wish that this were steak and potatoes._

"I'm starting to miss the good old days already," he says.

"Well if you want to have some good future days," Bella says. "Then you need to obey the doctor's orders."

"Yes, ma'am," he says meekly.

_If I don't behave myself, I'm going to end up getting a lecture._

A car horn sounds outside, so I grab my things.

"That's Carlisle," I say. "Have a good night, you two."

"Same to you, son," Charlie says.

"See you later," Bella says, after I give her a brief kiss.

"So, Edward," Carlisle says. "How is Charlie taking the bad news?"

"He's resigned to it," I answer. "But how do you know about it?"

"Gerandy consulted with me," he says. "It is a somewhat complicated case, with all those meds to juggle. And when he sees the psychiatrist, we have no doubt that he may want to add an antidepressant to the mix."

"Is it that bad?" I ask.

"We really think that it is the root cause of all his problems," Carlisle replies. "He let himself get out of shape by eating badly and living a sedentary lifestyle cease he was lonely and miserable without his family. As a result, until Bella came, and even to a certain degree after she was here, it was too much effort for him to get out of that chair to do anything. He let his personal relationships slip, including the one with Bella."

"So last spring he wasn't having trouble developing a relationship with her because he was a bad father," I say. "It was because he was depressed."

"He was in a pretty deep rut," he says. "Bella leaving him was a huge shock. But the incident with Harry was even worse. In that case, Harry had a loving family to support him. Charlie might not have that, but he does certainly have plenty of good reasons to take care of himself."

"He told Bella about the being around for the grandchildren thing last week," I say. "And now she feels guilty."

"I assumed that she would," he replies. "I'm sorry that Gerandy mentioned it. He thought that it would help motivate him."

"Well, it did," I admit. "The question is how long that will last."

"Well, let's change the subject," he suggests. "Did Bella do as well on her finals as we thought she did."

"She did beautifully," I reply. "But she's disappointed because the three of us were knocked out of the class ranking because we were away for most of the term. Can they do that?"

"I don't see why not," he answers. "Of course if they don't have a rule in writing, it may be possible to challenge it. Alice called me to tell me. Apparently some of the seniors have decided to start a petition. And Charlie has decided to go to the school to talk them. She sees that he has decided to do that."

"That's huge for him," I reply. "When Bella told him, I know that he wasn't happy. He was thinking about the whole honor society and college application stuff. He feels bad now that he didn't stand up for her then."

"Well, that's one of those things that _you _are going to stay out of," he says. "Do you have any other news?"

"We have an appointment to see Dr. Weber on Thursday after school," I say with a frown. "And Charlie wants Bella to come with him to Harry's house sometime so that she can talk with Sue about the whole special diet thing."

"How do you feel about her going to La Push?" he asks.

"I don't like it," I reply. "But I'm not going to try and stop her. I told her that it was totally up to her. I think that going to Harry's is perfectly safe. His son is much too young to be a wolf, and his daughter doesn't have a shot."

"What if Billy and Jacob show up?" he asks.

"I told her not to let Billy piss her off and to remember that Jacob is a teenage boy and therefore prone to saying stupid things," I reply. "And I doubt very much that Harry wants Jacob phasing in his house. Aside from the fact that he would destroy it, he would have to explain it to Charlie. And technically speaking, Bella doesn't know about the wolves either."

"I forgot about that," Carlisle says. "She's going to have to be very careful not to let on that she knows about it. For now, all she knows is that the Quileutes hate us and want us to leave, preferably leaving Bella behind."

As we pull into the driveway, I can hear Alice's thoughts shouting at me.

"Oh, crap!" I say. "This is all that we need!"

_Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffie (well not really) and that I have answered any of your great reviews. School is starting up next week and my garden has been in serious need of attention. _

_To clarify for the anonymous reviewer who wad concerned about where Jacob is. The story is only five chapters in. He is showing up soon and with his own POV. But I don't want to give away any spoilers._

_Thanks for your patience! _


	6. The New Jacob

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 6: The New Jacob**

Okay, so I'm finally going to get to see Bella again after all these months. The last time I saw her, she was with her leech boyfriend at Charlie's house and I was this puny, little kid who couldn't even drive. Freaking _Charlie _had to drive us back home. But now things have certainly changed. Bella is going to find me a new and improved Jacob.

First of all, I am sixteen, so I can drive. That's huge. It means that I am no longer a kid, but an adult. I'm even going to have my own car soon. I'm still working on rebuilding the Rabbit, but in the meantime, I got a new battery for the truck, so I have that to drive. And Bella has always thought that it was pretty cool that I could rebuild cars. I bet Cullen can't do that.

There was nothing wrong with the truck (really), but Edward Cullen immediately jumped at the chance to put her in some swanky, black Mercedes SUV. And of course Charlie says yes. I guess he totally forgot that it was the _truck _that didn't take any damage in that stupid accident.

But of all the dumb luck, Cullen had to be standing right next to her and save her life. I'm willing to bet anything that he used his superhero, vampire strength to keep the van from crushing her. Not that anyone ever found out, least of all Charlie. I'm guessing that that was her first tipoff that there was something weird about him. But knowing Bella, she probably didn't think it was weird.

Bella has always been different. Whatever you would think was logical never was logical to her. How many girls are there who like listening to guys talk about cars? And how many white girls could less about old Quileute stories. Of course now I know why she wanted to hear them. It was all about the Cullens and what they really were. But that day on the beach at La Push, she was all about _me._

If I only had gone to that white high school with her, then maybe I could have protected her from those creepy leeches when they decided to go after her. I don't know how she can stand to be around them. I mean, doesn't she realize that every time St. Edward kisses her, he's probably wishing it were her blood he was sucking instead of just her face. And, ugh! His lips and tongue must be freezing like a . . . Stop it right now, Jake! Or you're going to throw up!

Now after taking her away to protect her from her supposed "nervous breakdown," Charlie thinks that they are all some kind of saints. The last time we were at his house was when we came with Harry to pick up the truck. Then Harry, Billy, and I had to sit there and listen to him talk about how great the Cullens were and how determined they were to keep Bella safe.

As if he even knew what they were keeping her safe from! If it weren't for them, that redheaded bloodsucker wouldn't even be after her. And don't we know what happens when you kill the mate of a vampire. We almost lost the whole tribe if it wasn't for Taha Aki. And it figures that Edward had to go and kill the mate of some twisted vamp who would want to kill his mate. Only Bella isn't his mate yet. And she won't be if we have anything to say about it.

I guess that I'm lucky that Sam put the mother of all Alpha orders on me not to tell Charlie _anything _about the bloodsuckers. And it really does suck that Sam knows all my thoughts when we are both phased _and _that he has ordered the other guys in the pack to tell him if I think anything stupid. Yeah, right, me stupid now? Hell, this is the first time in my life that I know exactly what's going on.

When I think about all the times before I really knew the truth that I thought

Billy was being some kind of unreasonable racist when he would go on about the Cullens and their weird white skin and funky eyes. I might not be a very good student but I did remember what they told us about albinos in biology. I figured that was what they were and why they were all adopted.

After all, if the parents were albinos they would adopt albino kids. And then they would all have to stay out of the sun together or they would get really badly burned. And, okay, maybe they didn't have pink eyes, but yellow is just as creepy. But when I tried to tell Billy about it, he just called me an idiot, and said that I would understand when I got older.

Then I went on the growth spurt of the century, just like Embry did. Who ever heard of a fifteen-year guy, who was over six-feet tall? Okay, yeah, I've seen them around. But if they are that tall, they're usually these skinny, bean pole kids that look like a stiff wind would blow them away. But not me! I am totally built!

I have _muscles, _man! I'm stronger and bigger than anyone in the pack except for Sam. I even look older. Sam explained that the growth spurt means that physically we are now about the age of twenty-five, and as long as we keep phasing, we don't age. How cool is that? I'm really not a kid anymore. Hell, I'm even older than Bella.

Billy is pretty pissed because Sam phased before I did. He says that _I _am the one who should be the Alpha. And that's because I am the grandson of the last Alpha wolf, Ephraim. But to be perfectly honest, right after I phased, we got the word from the Cullens that the redhead had escaped from them and that "somehow" they heard that she was headed back here to try and lure them back so that. She could get Bella.

I knew that I wasn't up to it, so I said that Sam should be the Alpha. Billy wasn't very happy about that one, but I pointed out to him that I didn't even know her scent except what I had gotten from the other guys. And I had no experience at all leading a pack. There was no choice about it. With the challenge of hunting down a vampire in a matter of days, Sam had to take the lead.

Embry and I were glad when he paired us up, so were Jared and Paul. They thought that they were real hot stuff because they had phased before we did. But we also knew that Sam couldn't put either of us with Paul in case his temper caused him to get in trouble. And Sam had decided that he would guard the village alone. Of course Embry and I were glad that _we _weren't the ones left behind.

Billy was pretty much chomping at the bit because he wanted to be the one out there running patrols. We all knew that he and Harry wished that _they _were the wolves. And Dad felt really awful because he was in his wheelchair. At least if Sam saved the village by himself, Harry and Old Quil could start the fire and help carry the pieces.

Sam was so thorough that he already had the bonfire ready to go. When I saw him organizing everything, most of which I wouldn't even have thought of, I was glad that I had stepped back. One thing about being a wolf was clear. It was as much a part of our DNA as the rest of it. The tribe came first, no matter what. We had already lost two kids. We weren't losing any more.

Embry and I were assigned the territory that included the Cullen house and a lot of their land. Sam figured that since the Cullens weren't there, she most likely wouldn't bother with it. After all, while they were here, she pretty much stuck to their side of the line. But that was where he was wrong. Because that was where we did pick up her scent, right on their land.

We came out of the woods and smelled her at the driveway near a big outbuilding and then followed it to the back near the river. We saw her and she saw us and before we knew it, she was up in the trees. That sucked because obviously we couldn't climb up and we couldn't even smell her. But it was impossible to miss that bright, red hair. So we just kept looking up. And luckily, wolves have extra sharp vision. She was clear as a bell.

Boy, was she cocky as she leapt from branch to branch. The minute we saw her we had Sam in our heads giving us orders. We were aware of Paul and Jared running towards us to help, but the only voice was Sam's. And I have to admit that he was good. He used both of our minds to watch her and then ordered us to the right, to the left, across from her. And because he was using Alpha orders, we didn't even have to think. We just moved.

I could feel my heart racing when I saw that she was going to reach the end of the tree line. Jared, Paul, and Sam weren't that far out, which meant that we could potentially surround her. Sam ordered us to block her exit until they got there, but then she did something crazy. She threw herself over us and hit the ground running. Somehow she didn't realize that _we _were faster.

Embry got in front of her and tripped her up, but I was the one that took her down. She hit the ground behind him and I landed on top and began to tear her apart. Sam saw it and told me to get the arms first, so she couldn't grab me and crush me. Then, I needed to go for the head. By the time Embry was up, I grabbed one leg, he grabbed the other and we tore her apart.

Embry phased to get the wood together to start the fire, while I ripped the right leg that was already in my teeth from the torso. She was in six pieces, but I could see them already trying to put themselves back together. That was almost worse than when she was in one piece. The minute the spark lit, I tossed in the head and then the torso. Then Embry phased back and we took care of the limbs.

By the time Sam and the others got there, we were sitting on the ground watching her burn. It would have been a pretty sweet moment of victory if it hadn't been for the thick, purple, sweet smoke that was rising from the pyre. No amount of description in the histories could adequately explain that stench. But with our first vampire kill under our belts, Embry and I could stand a little stink.

Sam phased and walked over to the pile and began to poke it around with a stick. I was kind of pissed that he had turned human because now I couldn't know his thoughts. Before he phased, as he was watching us burn up the pieces, his mind had been filled with disbelief.

_How the hell did those two puppies kill that crazy vamp? Even the Cullens couldn't do it!_

But that was all we heard out of him. Paul and Jared ran in and sat down behind him.

_Beginners luck!_

_Sorry we beat you to her, Paul! _

No one was going to try and diss our victory. We _earned _this one. Embry and I looked back at them smugly. Sam might not have been able to read our thoughts, but he could tell by the way we were glaring at each other that something had just been said.

"Well, boys," he said, looking at us with a kind if grudging respect. "This is one great job. In about a half hour she should be completely turned to ash. But you're all going to need to phase. I want to divide these ashes and bury them in different places."

After we phased, the smell wasn't quite so sharp as it was when we were in wolf form.

"Before we leave here," he continues. "We need to track her back to wherever she came from. I want to make sure that she didn't bring any friends with her."

"Why would she have left them behind?" Paul asked.

"And why did she come here if she knew that the Cullens weren't here?" he asked. "Carlisle warned us that she would try to do something that would lead them back here. I'm not seeing the logic yet."

"She could have been scouting around for another way in," Jared suggests. "She was on the side of the res where the two newest wolves were on patrol."

"How would she know who was patrolling where?" Embry asked, justifiably insulted by the slurp noir abilities.

"She's pretty sharp," Sam says. "I have no doubt that she has been watching us for the past couple of weeks. Carlisle warned me that she was a few hundred years old and very cagey. I should probably have mixed up the guard duties. I'll have to remember that."

"A few hundred . . . " Jared exclaimed. "They sure hold up well!"

"That's what happens when you're immortal," Sam answered with the old eye roll. "You end up frozen forever."

"Why bother to worry about more guard duties?" Paul asked. "She's gone."

"And she's not the only vampire out there either," Sam said. "Who knows who else is coming to visit when the Cullens come back? And what if someone comes looking for _her _and gets pissed?"

"What do you mean when the Cullens come back?" Paul asked, getting pissed.

"Now that the redhead is gone," he explained. "The Cullens will return so that Bella and the two younger ones can finish high school. Then Bella marries Edward and they all disappear."

"But if Bella marries Edward then he'll turn her into one if them," I objected.

"That's not my problem," he said. "Carlisle promised me that they would be a couple of thousand miles away when he did it."

"Well then we have to stop it," Embry said. "We can't let him turn her into a bloodsucker."

"We can't let them do it here," Sam answered firmly. "But I'm not chasing them all over North America to stop them. Besides it's her choice."

"I don't think that the treaty says anything about choice," I said. "It was just about killing or biting. We have to stop them."

"Okay, you two," Sam replied patiently. "Listen up. They break the treaty if they cross the line or kill or bite a human _here_. We can't do anything to them because they might do something later. Then, we've broken the treaty and there's enough of them to slaughter the whole village."

"But there's only four of them and five of us," Paul said, getting psyched at the opportunity to kill a vampire of his own.

"Don't you think that they could call the other three home?" Sam asked. "And if they thought that we would double-cross them, I'm sure they will have other friends to call in to help. I made an agreement with Carlisle and we are sticking to it."

"The council isn't going to like it," Jared said.

"No one on the council is a wolf," Sam said. "None of them are capable of protecting the tribe from vampires except us. This is my decision."

And that was the end of that conversation, but not of the whole conversation. Jared was right that the council wasn't going to like Sam's agreement with Carlisle. In fact, they hated it. Quil's grandpa was definitely the worst, but Billy ran a close second.

"You have got to be kidding, Sam Uley!" Billy bellowed at him when he heard. "I do not want the Cullens back here under any circumstances."

"No one is asking for your permission, Billy," Sam said calmly. "When the Cullens return in January, they will bring Bella with them so that she can finish high school. Then she and Edward will get married and they will all go very far away."

"Well, as far as I am concerned, they can bring Bella back and then go very far away without her," he replied.

"That's not your choice either," Sam said. "If I pass along your message that the Cullens may not return, I suspect that we will hear that Bella has died somehow and we will never see them again."

"Good riddance to them," Old Quil muttered. "I vote for that option."

"Nobody's voting for anything," Harry interrupted. "Have you thought about what would happen to Charlie if Bella never came back? He's your best friend, Billy."

"What's the point if she's going to leave again anyway?" Old Quil asked. "I still vote to tell then to stay away."

"And I said that we're not voting on this," Harry answered through a clenched jaw. "Billy, at least if she comes back for a short time, she can say goodbye. She can graduate from high school, marry that idiot leech, and go off to same fancy college back east. Knowing that slippery bloodsucker Carlisle, I'm sure there will be some crazy story to let Charlie down easy."

"Charlie has looked like hell since she left," Billy admitted.

And whose fault was that? If Billy hadn't gotten him all worked up about her coming over to La Push that weekend, she wouldn't have moved out, and then he even got Renee started in on him. Of course I had no idea at the time what the big fuss was about her marrying Edward Cullen anyway, except that they were both teenagers. I was too busy being pissed because he stole my childhood crush.

"As far as I am concerned," Sam said. "It is the safety of the tribe that is my primary concern. Bella Swan is not a member of the tribe. If she wants to marry that thing and become one of them, I don't care as long as it isn't here. I would be just as happy if the Cullens disappeared forever tomorrow.

"But I did strike a deal with Carlisle that was in the best interest of the tribe. He gave me detailed information about the redhead and how she moved that helped me guide Jacob and Embry to kill her. Without that information, she would still be out there as a threat and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

"From my perspective it is a point of honor because I gave my word. However, the tribe comes first. It may be safer for us to tell them that they can't return. On the other hand, they might come back anyway. And we can't stop them. We can't go to the whites and tell them that the Cullens are vampires without revealing that five of our young men are werewolves."

"It does put us in an uneasy alliance," Harry said. "And we do have the treaty on which we gave our word of honor. I do not believe that the Cullens are a threat to us. And they betrayed one of their own kind to help save our people from more deaths."

"You're just looking for a way to bring Bella back to Charlie," Old Quil accused him.

"So what if I am?" Harry asked. "At least if we get her back here, we have a chance of getting her to change her mind. I just think that we need to go about it more diplomatically. If you hadn't been so heavy-handed about the thing last time, Billy, she might still be here."

"I am going to call Carlisle up and tell him about the kill," Sam said. "And if he says that they are coming back in January, I won't argue."

And that was the moment that I was sorry that I wasn't the Alpha. Since it was a matter of protecting the tribe, the council couldn't say anything. If the Cullens were here they could have tried to renegotiate the treaty, but they couldn't even do that. Something told me that Carlisle wasn't going to give in on any of their demands. But at least if I was Alpha, I could have said something.

After the meeting broke up, Embry and I went down to the beach to talk things over. Sam had told us that we were going back to school now that the big threat was over and would only be running on weekends. I was actually kind of bummed out. After a few weeks of doing a man's job, I would have to go back to saying, "yes, ma'am," to some teacher.

"Well, that meeting kind of sucked," said Embry. "How did you like Sam taking the credit for our kill? He acted like he took down the leech himself. Man, I don't see why it's only the Alpha that can speak."

"Well, we did follow his orders to bring her down," I remarked.

"Hey, man! You owned that kill!" he replied. "You had her half-ripped apart before I even got my teeth into her. Meanwhile, Sam was just running in as we had the leech burning into ash. And he had the nerve to talk about how the Cullens helped him out. It wasn't a big deal. We chased her through the trees until she couldn't go any further."

"That's what Billy said," I agreed. "He figures that we could have pulled her down even without Sam to help. He thinks that Sam is grabbing all the glory for himself because he's afraid that now that I actually have a vampire kill, I will claim my birthright."

"No wonder he's sending us to school," Embry scoffs. "He figures that it will make us look more like kids. I bet it really bugs him that we all look like the same age now. If he thought that school was so important then why didn't he go to college?"

"The council wouldn't let him," I answered. "He was the only wolf and they knew they needed him with the Cullens just moved in."

"Yeah, well it just figures that Edward would go and fall for Charlie's daughter," Embry said. "Of all the girls in town, why did he have to go and pick her? It's not like she's even the prettiest girl in town. Who would have thought that plain, old Bella Swan could get herself a millionaire?"

"There's nothing plain or old about Bella," I replied in her defense. "She's special."

"Yeah, man," he smirked. "Special. Didn't once upon a time she think that you were special? Something about you being a master mechanic?"

"Well, unfortunately, she is totally all about him now," I said bitterly. "I guess I never really knew her. But whenever I see them together it's like she can't take her eyes off him. She's just . . . infatuated. But then again, he is good-looking in a creepy, pale-white sort of way."

"And he's rich," Embry added. "And from what I hear, he's the smartest kid in the school. And his father is supposed to be the best doctor around. Man! My Mom keeps complaining because the council won't let the tribe go to him or use the county hospital anymore. But, who knew that he was vampire?"

"Yeah, well, how did any of us know that all those legends and histories were true?" I asked him. "I always thought that the crap they said about the Cullens being 'cold ones' was ridiculous, not to mention the fact that they still looked the same after seventy years or so."

"I know what you mean," he said. "If I hadn't actually smelled them for myself, I had my doubts. You know that the spirit warriors used to guard the tribe from other things before the vampires came along. But now the only enemies left are the vampires."

"Yeah, well, nothing has ever smelled worse than that leech did when she was burning up," I said. "And it was so creepy when her arms and legs started moving. It was _just _like the stories. And even if Sam hadn't told us how to burn her up, we certainly knew anyway."

"Well, at least when they come back, you'll get another shot at Bella," he commented.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I asked defensively.

"Cut the crap, Black!" he answered. "You been in love with that chick since you were in diapers and you know it. And after she came back last year, you did nothing but talk about her, especially after you two took your little romantic stroll down on the beach that day."

"Shut up, Embry," I growled. "Or I'm going to dismember _you _and burn the pieces!"

"Yeah, man, like hell you will," he continued. "Then you were all worried about her when she got hurt in Phoenix. Then you were jealous as hell last summer when she spent all that time with Edward. Admit it, bro. You hated him before you knew he was a bloodsucker because you were jealous. He had her, and you didn't. Besides, you never had a chance with her."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Look at the calendar, man," he said. "She's eighteen, you're still fifteen. Even if she doesn't marry him, she's still going off to college. Now if she breaks up with him then maybe she'll turn to you for, I don't know, comfort. But you'll still be high school . . . you hope."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Face it, Jake," he answered. "You hate school. You're a grease monkey. There's nothing wrong with that, but she's probably going to marry a college man someday. Harry said that Charlie was worried because she was only applying to schools back east. Or she could go to Florida where her mother is. Even if she stays here, she'd go to WSU. I hate to be the one to tell you, but she's out of your league."

"Well, I'm glad that she's coming back so that maybe someone can talk some sense into her about marrying him," I replied.

Then I took off for home. I hated to admit it, but I knew that Embry was right. Even if it weren't Edward Cullen, there would be some other rich, good-looking white guy who would get her. And why would she want to stay here in the middle of nowhere when she could go to some fancy school in Boston or New York?

She didn't want to come here in the first place. It was the first time that she had come in three years when she moved in with Charlie and that was only because her Mom remarried. But still, I thought that maybe I could be a friend to her. I always knew that she was shy. And I always thought that we understood each other. I didn't think that the age thing was such a big deal.

You know, it wouldn't be the first time that an older woman and a younger man hit it off. What's two and a half years anyway? We had a lot in common. Our dads were best friends. I could take good care of her. Now that I'm a wolf, I big and strong enough to watch out for her when she gets into trouble. And I wouldn't turn her into a freaking vampire.

I've thought a lot about her and me since that night. I decided that even if it means the Cullens are coming back, I'm glad that she'll be back. I just got to play it smart and not act like some immature, jealous idiot. She's got to see that I'm better for her than he is any day of the week.

But now that she's back, Old Quil and Harry have told Billy to stay out of the whole thing. That's not so good for me. They don't want him messing anything else up for them. Bella is still engaged to Cullen and Charlie can accept it or lose her again. And that would be bad.

Charlie is scared to death that after Harry's episode, he could be next. He even went to the doctor the other day and got the really bad news that if he doesn't shape up he's going to have a stroke or a heart attack or something. Now that Bella is back and Charlie is happy, they don't want him to have any more upset.

But it has given Harry a chance to get her over here to La Push. He put the idea in Charlie's head that maybe Bella could hang out with Sue and they could talk about cooking and how to keep their men from killing themselves. Sue will be good at that. She is the motherly type, but she's also very strong. And maybe if Bella hangs out with her, it will get her away from Esme Cullen.

It totally figured that Edward would not only have a sister to be Bella's best friend, but a mother to be the Mom that Renee never was. Oh, yeah, and don't forget that he has a Dad who's a doctor to fix her up every time she gets hurt. Could there ever have been a more perfect family for her? Well, maybe a _human _family would have been a good start.

So Charlie and Bella will be coming over to Harry's for dinner on Friday night and we're invited. I know that if I could just talk to her, maybe I could pry her loose from his grip. Of course, I'm not even supposed to know that he's a leech and _she _doesn't know anything about the wolves. At least we _think _so. We aren't sure if the Cullens told her or not.

She must know about the treaty and that was why Dad didn't want Edward and Alice to come to La Push. And there must have been some reason why she wouldn't come without them. I think that she knows more than she's ever let on, but even if she knew that there were wolves here, she certainly wouldn't have known that I was one.

And you know, even if Embry is right and I'm not the guy for her because she's going away to college, at least I can keep her alive. She can go off and have a real life and see Charlie every once in a while. Every human at least deserves that, right?

Okay, Jake. You're kidding yourself again. You would be real bummed out if you saved Bella from Edward only to have her fall in love with someone else. But still, at least she would still be human. At least she wouldn't be your enemy. And at least you wouldn't have to hate her.


	7. Defensive

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 7: Defensive**

After Edward leaves, Dad and I sit down for a quiet meal together. Since we had talked so much before dinner, it is hard to find anything to say that isn't related to either school or his medical tests. But I still have a couple of questions for him.

"So, Dad," I ask. "When are they going to put the stents in?"

"Gerandy is thinking about next Monday or Tuesday," he replies. "They have some pre-op stuff that they need to do. And some more tests to run. I'm starting to feel like a pin cushion. Apparently I have bad veins, whatever that means, so it takes them longer to find good veins to stick their needles in."

He shivers at the thought.

"What did Edward mean when he talked about non-invasive surgery?" I ask.

"It means that they won't have to open my chest up," he says. "I go in that morning and they put me to sleep. Then they thread some kind of wire thing up my groin to put the stent into the artery. They have all kinds of cameras they use, so it's all real precise. It takes a long time, but I only have to stay overnight."

"Well, that's good," I say. "I can take the day off from school and drive you down."

"No, you shouldn't miss any school," he says.

"It's not like I'll learn anything if I'm thinking about you all day," I reply. "I'll just hang out in the waiting room while they're working."

"All by yourself?" he groans. "C'mon Bells. You'll go out of your mind."

"I'm sure that Esme will stay with me to keep me company," I say. "Maybe I could stay overnight at their house while you're away for the night. I don't like the idea of staying here by myself."

"Well, I don't either," he says. "But it only needs to be for the one night, okay?"

"I promise," I say. "Besides, I want to be here to take care of you when you get home."

"I'm not going to be an invalid," he replies. "The doctor says I'll be up and around in no time, just as good as . . . No, better than before.

"I know," I say. "I just want to be here in case you need anything. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No," he says gruffly. "Of course not."

He won't admit it, but I know that he's glad that I want to stay home with him. I know that he's afraid that I'm going to leave him again, but I really don't want to spend the night here alone worrying about him. And I can't tell him that Edward would be here with me. After all, if he told Billy and Harry he was worried about me being alone here, they might send over the guard dogs.

Suddenly, my cell phone buzzes. I look at the caller ID.

"It's Mom," I say with a sigh. "I'm really not in the mood to talk to her."

"Neither am I," Charlie says. "But if you don't pick up, my phone will ring next."

"That's true," I reply and press the screen. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, Bella," she says. "Now why have you been home for a whole week and I haven't known about it?"

"Probably because you haven't spoken to me in three months," I reply evenly. "How did you find out?"

"I got a call from the school informing me of the excellent work that you did while you were away at the sanatorium," she says. "Your guidance counselor told me that I should be very proud of you."

"My guidance counselor is an idiot," I say. "So are you calling me to congratulate me?"

"Not really," she says, as I roll my eyes. "She also mentioned that your father had been feeling under the weather. Apparently, he has been going for all kinds of tests. Now, I'm worried that if he gets very sick, you're going to end up being his nurse and it will impact your studies."

"Dad, I'm going upstairs with this," I whisper to him. "She's going all mental on me again."

"Be my guest," he mutters waving his hand, as I bolt up to my room.

"Mom" I say in a low voice. "Dad just went to the doctor for a physicals he other day. Now the results aren't that great. He has to go on a diet and exercise more, but if he loses some weight, he should get better."

"Are you sure that's all there is to it?" she asks suspiciously. "It sounded to me like he was getting very overweight and was having a few other issues like shortness of breath."

"Mom," I say, getting more pissed by the second. "No offense, but this isn't any of your business."

"What do you mean by that?" she asks defensively. "You're my daughter. And he's your father. His health impacts both of us."

"I'm eighteen," I reply. "That means that I'm your adult daughter, so technically you don't have anything to say about me or my life. And as far as Dad is concerned, when I turned eighteen, it meant that he didn't have to deal with you anymore either. You've remarried. Why don't you worry about Phil and leave us alone?"

"Is this about Phil?" she asks. "I always knew that you resented him."

"I like Phil well enough," I say. "I just don't care about him one way or the other. Now could you just tell me why you called and get it over with."

"I'm calling because I think that you should come to Florida to finish your last semester of high school," she says. "That way you can focus on your studies and not worry about Charlie. Your counselor told me that you applied to some pretty unrealistic schools. If you expect to get in, you'll need to keep those grades up there."

"And my engagement to Edward has nothing to do with it?" I ask, instantly regretting it the minute the words are out of my mouth.

"Well, that is another distraction," she says. "I don't see how you are going to have time to keep up your grades if you are spending all your time with Charlie and Edward."

At this point, I am out of patience with her. This is none of her business. If she wants to salvage what little there is left of our relationship, we need to end this call now.

"Mom," I say. "I'll think about it, okay? But I still have my physics homework to do for tomorrow, so I'll say goodbye now."

I switch off the phone before she can answer. If she tries to call again, it will go straight to voice mail. I go downstairs to tell Charlie not to pick up if the house phone rings.

"Dad, if she calls again, let it go to voice mail," I say. "She's being a pain."

"Do I want to know what this is about?" he asks wearily.

"No," I reply. "But you'll probably worry if I don't tell you. Why don't I just give you the highlights."

"Sure," he says. "I really don't want to hear all of the gory details."

I pause to think about what I can tell him to keep the emphasis off of his health issues. One of the things that sucks about living in such a small town is that everyone knows everything about everyone else. No doubt Mark told people stopping into the station where Dad was. And nobody would need a very large imagination to figure out that his health was poor. There had probably been lots if speculation already.

"Well, my busybody school counselor decided to call her to tell her about my grades," I say. "And then she had the nerve to say that I should go to live with Mom in Jacksonville for my last semester of high school so that I could focus on my studies since I had applied to all of those very unrealistic schools."

"She didn't miss a trick, did she?" Charlie commented. "Not that it's any of her business. Did she say anything about Edward?"

"Of course, she did," I answer, rolling my eyes. "Mom, that is. She called him another distraction."

Charlie looks at me thoughtfully.

"I might have said the same thing myself," he admits. "Except that I know that you two always do your homework together, whether you're here or there at his place. But maybe she is right about you worrying too much about me."

"No, she's wrong about that," I reply. "And do you think that I _wouldn't _worry about you if I moved to Jacksonville. Now _that _would be a distraction. Renee is just mad because she's out of the loop again. The one that I'm really mad at is the stupid counselor.

"She knows very well that I'm eighteen and Renee has nothing to say about how I finish up high school and where I go to college. Technically speaking, you don't either, but you are my Dad and I want you to know what's going on. I want to live here with you. I want to help you get better. It's my choice."

By now I am in tears. As usual, it is because I am so angry. And I'm not just angry on behalf of myself. I'm angry because of how _guilty _Charlie looks. I understand that even though he has let his health go, it isn't entirely his fault. He didn't have much of a life before I moved back here.

When I came home, he had (and still does) a gallery of my school pictures through the years in the living room. And he kept my room the way it was. I can't bear the look on his face now because he thinks that he of all people is messing up my life. I wish that I could tell him the truth. I wish that I could tell him how happy I am because if I hadn't come here I wouldn't have met Edward.

It's not like it's always been sunshine and roses. I had two maniac vampires chasing after me. One of them nearly killed me down in Phoenix. The other one nearly drove me insane here up. I've had to fight with the school because they seem to resent that I am _too smart_ for Forks High School. And I've had to put up with gossip because everyone thinks that Edward and I are too young to marry. But in the balance, it's all worth it.

"Dad," I finally say, taking his hands. "I know that we've had some rough times since I came here a year ago. But I will never regret coming. I've learned more about you than I ever thought I would know. And I really do love you. And I'm sorry that your health is so poor, but is want to help you get better.

"And okay, I admit it. I'm happy that I moved here because I met Edward and I love him more than anything. And really means a lot to me that you have accepted him. Don't pay any attention to Renee. She's just jealous because I'm here and not with her. I almost think that she's jealous because we don't need her to be happy.

"Now it would make me feel a lot better now, if you would just take care of yourself and not worry about all this stuff. You're going to take your medicine and get more exercise and eat better. You're going to have those stents put in and you're not going to complain every time that I make you healthy food. And I'll go with you to Harry's house and let Sue give me some advice on how to take care of you. Deal?"

His eyes kind of mist up and he whispers, "Deal."

I give him a kiss on the cheek and say, "I have physics homework to do. So let me get these dishes cleaned up. Okay?"

"You go do your homework and I'll do the dishes," he replies. "I could use the exercise."

"Sure," I say, turning away before he can see my smile.

Only Charlie could think of washing dishes as exercise. But I read an article one time about the number of calories that you burned doing different kinds of housework. I run up the stairs to the sound of pots and pans clanging and banging. When I throw open the door to my room, I find Edward waiting for me in the rocking chair. I immediately snuggle into his arms.

"Alice?" I ask.

"Alice," he says. "She saw you decide to take your phone call with Renee upstairs. She didn't know why, but she assumed that it couldn't be good. I ran back right away, but you were already downstairs talking to Charlie."

"I made sure that it was a pretty quick phone call," I say.

"I heard your synopsis that you gave Charlie," he answers. "It sounds like our friend the guidance counselor is busy stirring the pot again. I'm going to have to listen to her thoughts tomorrow and try and figure out what her problem is with you."

"Well," I reply. "Whatever it is, I am sure that it will make her happy if I failed physics. I still haven't done that homework."

"I know that you don't need it," he answers. "But I will help you anyway. It's getting late."

And with his help, I finish it quickly and then go through my nightly routine, which ends when I say goodnight to Charlie."

"Goodnight, Bells," he answers. "I'll be coming up soon. That's another thing that Gerandy was going on about. I need to get more sleep."

He looks at me sadly. I have a feeling that he is overwhelmed by all the changes that he has to make in his life to get better. When I return upstairs, Edward is waiting for me on the bed. In no time, I am wrapped up in my comforter and lying in his arms. As usual, he is protective as he waits for me to fall asleep.

"What is he thinking?" I ask, referring to Charlie of course.

"He is wondering if he is not putting too great a burden on you, by letting you take care of him," he replies. "He hadn't really thought about it that way until Renee brought it up in her phone call. And he's going to ask Sue to see if she can figure out if it's not going to be too much for you to manage."

"I told him not to worry about that," I say.

"You told him," Edward says. "But he didn't hear it. But I really shouldn't be telling you all this. Carlisle told me to mind my business and let you and Charlie work things out for yourselves."

"That's not very nice," I say. "It helps me if I know what he's thinking."

"No, it's not about being nice," Edward answers. "It's about you and Charlie learning to communicate directly with one another. It doesn't help you learn to do that if I always tell you what he's thinking, so that you can address his worries without him telling you what they are."

"I think I know what you meant just now," I reply yawning. "But now I need to get to sleep."

I hear the Bose click on in the dark and the sound of my lullaby comes up, followed by my new song.

"You made a new CD," I murmur.

"Yes, I did," he whispers. "Now sleep well, my love."

When I wake up, despite the turmoil of the day before, I feel refreshed and ready to face the world. I make it downstairs a little early do I can eat with Charlie and note that he is pouring himself a bowl of bran flakes with skim milk.

"When did you get that?" I ask.

"On the way home," he says, scooping some fresh blueberries on top. "I thought that the cashier was going to fall over when I said it was for me, not you."

"Well, I'm glad to see it," I say, poking my head into the refrigerator for orange juice for myself. "OJ?"

"No, that's too much sugar," he says. "I have this pamphlet that tells me about how all fruit has lots of sugar, fructose. Apparently all those "oses" are different kinds of sugar. I have to start reading packages."

"It sounds like I do too," I say. "I know that I can find out lots of things online too."

"So do I," he says. "One of these days I'm going to invest in some kind of computer for myself. I don't need anything fancy, just some basic Internet stuff."

I don't answer him. I know that they have just started coming out with these really inexpensive notebook things. But since I've been hanging out with the Cullens, my definition of inexpensive has shifted. His birthday is coming up soon, so I can think about getting him that. Before I leave, I could upgrade his life in lots of ways, but I'm not sure if he would agree to that.

I get to school (for once) before Alice and Edward, and Katie Marshall comes running up to me.

"Don't worry, Bella," she says. "We got your back!"

"What do you mean . . . " I begin, but she's flying off.

Edward peels into the parking lot and neatly pulls in next to me. I look over and wave.

"Just missed her," Alice tells him as they get out of the car.

"Just missed who?" I ask. "Katie?"

"What did she say to you?" Edward asks, as he listens to the usual cacophony around us.

"Just that they have my back," I answer. "Do you know what that means?"

"It seems that your friends have gotten up a petition, asking the administration to put the three of us back into the class ranking," Alice answers. "Angela started it. They're trying to get all the kids in the school to sign it."

"What are they all thinking?" I ask Edward, who is still listening intently.

"They don't really care about Alice and I," he answers. "We've been one and two since we got here. But they figure that they can't defend you without including us, not that we care."

"But what about Eric?" I ask.

"He's busy getting people to sign too," he says. "And Newton and Crowley. And don't be too shocked by this, but Jessica is on your side as."

"Jessica?" I ask in surprise.

"She's mostly in it for the attention," he says. "And there are a number of students, who are excited about the whole student protest aspect. That's mostly the younger kids, who really don't know us."

"Great," I groan. "No doubt this is going to make everyone just _love_ me even more."

"Listen, yesterday as we were leaving, Varner thought that it wasn't fair either," he says. "But, hey! We need to get to English. You know how Berty hates it when we're late."

Of course I do. And by getting there early, we don't have to walk past everyone to get to our seats. The hallway is buzzing with activity as we walk through. A little freshman boy runs by us and tries to give Edward a high five, but he lifts his hand too high for him to reach.

"Too cold?" I ask.

"Too hard," Edward says grinning. "If he had managed to smack my hand, he'd have broken his."

Alice nods laughing as she runs off to her own class.

I can't help it. I have to giggle. When we walk into the classroom, it's nearly empty. Mr. Berty nods to us as we make our way back to our seats. Then he frowns as the bell rings and the room is neatly empty. As only a few kids come straggling in, he walks to the door and bellows down the hallway.

"First period has begun! Get to your classes _now!_"

From inside the classroom, we can hear the sound of feet running down the hall, girls giggling, and guys laughing. The kids come into class in a jolly mood. It takes Mr. Berty a few minutes to calm everyone down, but as soon as he begins reciting Frost, the class quiets it the point of whispering and shuffling papers. When he is finished, he scowls at us.

"Just to let you know," he says. "At the end of today's class, there will be a pop quiz on the lecture."

That sobers up everyone is a hurry, but doesn't deter a couple of kids from turning around and giving us the thumbs up. I groan and lay my head down on my desk, letting my long hair cover it. I feel a cool finger pulling it back.

"Just take it easy," Edward says softly. "Everything will be fine."

"But this is all my fault," I moan.

"No it isn't," he says. "Even a hard-ass like Berty doesn't think so, but if you don't look up, he's going to say something."

It takes a lot of effort, but I manage to pull my head up off the desk. For the rest of the period, I keep my eyes forward and glued on Mr. Berty and his lecture. At the end of class, he tells us to pull out a sheet of paper and asks to our write thoughts (code for his thoughts) on the line "good fences make good neighbors." It is an ironic twist to my morning. I was just thinking about how I could use a few fences in my life right now.

But all too soon, the bell rings and I am surrounded by my classmates, who are all offering condolences about how I was "ripped off" of my rank by school officials. They are even beginning to plan a sit in, no doubt to get out of classes for a period or two.

"But how do you know where I would have ranked?" I asked nervously.

"You would have ranked high," Angela says. "Didn't you get A+ on all your midterms."

"But I had private tutoring," I reply. "Don't you think that was an advantage?"

"You were in the hospital," Eric says logically. "And that was a disadvantage. We figure that evens things out. But Berty is giving us the evil eye, so we better get to our next classes."

Edward helps me negotiate my wellwishers in the hallway so that we can get to history on time. By lunchtime, I am totally sick of the whole thing. My friends aren't sitting with me because they are running around getting the rest of the signatures. It's pretty easy to get a hundred percent participation on a petition when there are only three hundred odd students in the school.

"They're going off to Mr. Greene's office now," Alice says.

"I see," Edward says nodding. "But they are disappointed."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because Greene has decided to accept the petition but not get into a debate on its merits now," he replies. "He's going to have a staff meeting after school, but he won't tell them that. He doesn't want to encourage any more of these things."

"What does _he_ think about the petition's merits?" Alice asks.

"Right now, he's pissed at the guidance counselor," Edward answers. "He hates anything that interrupts the flow of the school day, so to speak. And he's thinking 'I told you so.'"

"Why?" I ask.

"She wanted to drop us from the ranking the minute that she saw the three of us come up as one, two, and three," he replies. "Actually, she just wanted to drop you, but she had to do an all or nothing. It would have raised too many questions if Alice and I stayed on the list."

"Uh, oh," Alice says, as Edward leans back in his chair and pinches his nose between his fingers.

"What?" I ask.

"I can see Charlie walking into the school in fifteen minutes and asking where the principal's office is," she answers.

"Of all the times that he has to decide to stick up for me," I groan. "It has to be now?"

"He wants to prove to you that he's on your side," Edward says. "He's been feeling guilty about not sticking up for you before. This is a big step for him. I guess that we should just let it play out. Alice, what was that?"

"I need to get to class early," she says hurriedly, looking sharply at Edward. "I forgot something."

"Since when do vampires forget anything?" I ask sarcastically.

"Oh, our memories aren't perfect," says Edward. "But we should try to get to class early too. You know, to avoid the rush."

Of course, I know that I want to avoid the rush of students, who want to express their support. With all of the causes that they could be supporting that are real "causes," they have to pick on mine.

During physics, Edward is distracted about something. It's hard to tell because he keeps his face forward and scribbles perfect notes in his lovely cursive handwriting. However, occasionally I can see the muscles in his neck tensing up. By the time that class is over, I hardly know what Mr. Banner has said. When the bell rings, we are up in a second. My books disappear into my backpack and my backpack is slung over Edward's shoulder.

"What?" I ask.

But he shakes his head because there are too many people around. We walk slowly to Spanish. Whatever he is listening to, it has his complete attention. Finally, he sighs and picks up my hand.

"It's all good," he says. "You'll find out later."

And as usual, I can't get anything else out of him. After school, we had planned to go to his house, but he wants to go to mine instead. I'm not sure if why until we drive up and see the cruiser parked in the driveway.

"Is Charlie okay?" I ask nervously. "He's not due home for another couple of hours."

"He's okay," Edward says. "But why don't we let him tell the story?"

I quickly exit the car and with Edward trailing behind me, run into the house.

"What are you doing playing hooky at home?" I ask Charlie, the minute I get into the house.

Charlie is sitting in his chair with the TV on and a bowl of something that looks like yogurt and blueberries in his lap. He looks up at me, sighs, amd clicks the remote to mute the sound.

"I thought that you were going to Edward's house this afternoon," he answers mildly. "Why did you decide to come home early?"

"Oh, I don't know," I say. "I remembered some things that I had to do. But you haven't answered my question."

"Okay," he says. "But you have to promise me that you're not going to get all worked up."

"About what?" I ask, my voice rising.

If it weren't so serious, this would actually be kind if funny. It as if I am the parent and Charlie is the wayward child. He gives Edward one of his "help me" looks, and Edward drops the backpacks and takes my arm so that I have to sit down with him.

"I went over to the school today," Charlie explains. "To ask about this ranking crap and all of the other nonsense that's been going on with you. Turns out that Carlisle went over on his lunch hour too, so we kind of presented a united front. Good thing he came too."

"And why is that?" I squeak out, thinking there was only one reason why Charlie would need Carlisle around.

"Well," he says. "Talking to Principal Greene wasn't so bad. He seemed to understand our points about how hard you all worked while you were away. But then he had to go and call in that guidance counselor. Boy, is she ever a snippy little thing! And v_ery_ defensive! She just couldn't accept the fact that you all worked hard while you were away. She practically accused Carlisle of helping you cheat."

"How?" I ask sarcastically. "Did she think that he stole the midterms ahead of time to give us the answers? I thought that the exams would prove that we did know all our material."

"Well, so did I," Charlie said. "And I'm afraid that I lost my temper. I really gave it to her for persecuting you over the national honor thing and the hard time that she gave you with the college thing. Then I told her that she had no right getting into your personal business by calling up Renee. I know that I was rude, but she just made me so angry, sitting there like I don't know anything about anything."

"Dad, just how worked up did you get?" I ask anxiously.

"Too worked up," he answers looking down at his hands. "I got kind of short of breath and turned a little red I guess. Carlisle calmed me down and said that it wasn't worth it. He said that it would hurt you more if I got sick."

"He was right," I reply quietly.

"I know that," he admits. "I just felt like I needed to stand up for you. But this is why I don't like going over to that school. They all make me nervous with their fancy degrees. And they try and make me feel stupid. But you deserve to be treated better than that."

"I'm surprised that Carlisle was there," Edward says so slowly that I know he's acting. "We don't really care about those kinds of things."

"Well, I feel like he was more there to defend Esme about the whole thing that someone else was doing your work because it was too good," he replies. "He wanted them to know that you all did your own lessons and didn't have any extra help on the tests and papers."

"So what happened?" I ask.

"Greene said that they were having a staff meeting today after school and the teachers would vote on it, you know, the class rank thing," he answers. "Some of them don't think that it's fair either. And every kid in the school signed some petition on your behalf or something, That counselor didn't look too happy about it, but I guess that she doesn't get a say anymore."

"I guess not," I say slowly. "So why didn't you go back to work?"

"Carlisle insisted that I come home and relax," he replies. "He said that I can't get myself all worked up until my blood pressure is under control. I suppose he's right."

"I'm sure he is right," Edward says. "Carlisle is almost never wrong."

"Spoken like a true son," Charlie says. "Okay, you two should go off and do your homework or whatever and let me watch my game."

"Yes, sir!" Edward says, and leads me off to the kitchen.

"Did he tell me everything?" I ask when we are seated at the table.

"Yes, he thought of holding back on a couple of things but he figured that Carlisle would tell you anyway," he answers. "We figured he probably wouldn't be in any danger, but Carlisle went along to be sure."

"Is that why Alice left lunch early?" I ask.

"She saw Charlie going into Greene's office," he replies. "It was purely precautionary."

"What's he thinking now?" I ask.

"He's trying to figure out how to tell you that you have an invitation to go to Harry's tomorrow night for dinner," he answers.

"That's not a big deal," I say. "I've already told him that I'd go."

"Well, he's worried all the same," he says. "If he hadn't said anything by dinner, you could ask him. It might make it easier for him."

"Okay," I reply. "Is it really just about me talking with Sue?"

"It really is," he replies. "What else could he think? He hardly knows anything about what happens at La Push. It will be fine."

"If you say so," I sigh. "Oh well, I guess I should look at that calculus homework."

"I guess you should," he answers smiling.

We sit quietly in the kitchen, while the sound of a hockey game floats into the kitchen from the living room. I'm still not so sure about going over to La Push tomorrow night, but if Edward is sanguine about it, it's hard to be too concerned. Of course the real "fun" will be the next day when we see Dr. Weber.

_Author's Note: Next update will be dinner at Harry's._


	8. What Eavesdroppers Hear

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 8: What Eavesdroppers Hear**

"Come on, Jake!" Billy calls to me. "You look beautiful! We want to get to Harry's ahead of Charlie and Bella."

When I heard that Charlie and Bella were coming over to have dinner at Harry's house and Dad and I were invited, I was excited. I was finally going to get to see Bella again, after almost four months, and she would get to see me. I wondered what she would think of my new haircut. It was a buzz cut because of the wolf thing and the girls at my school thought it was pretty hot.

I put on my best jeans and boots, with a white tee-shirt and flannel shirt over it. That was the look that the guys at Forks High School were all putting on. I thought of all the smart things that I was going to say to her. But now, as she walks in, I hardly recognize her. I look over at her from across the room, I wonder how much I really know about _her_ anymore.

She and Charlie come in right on time. She is kind of fussing over him, which makes sense since he looks kind of sick, just like Harry has for the last few months. And he, being that he is Charlie, is complaining about the attention that she's giving him and how she's "making a big deal" over him, but you can see that he loves the attention.

But Bella just looks like, I don't know, different. She's dressed up a little in jeans and Chucks with a pretty blue sweater over a white blouse. She's even wearing a little bit of make up and it looks like her hair has been trimmed so it doesn't look out of control. And she's wearing some pretty nice jewelry. It isn't a very nice thing to say, but she finally looks like she has some kind of style.

But it's more than just that. She acts older too. Well, maybe not older, but she seems to have a lot more confidence. I remember when we were kids and Rachel and Rebecca used to call her the "little, white mouse." Now she's talking and smiling. She doesn't look like she's scared of her shadow anymore.

She says "hi" to everyone, and meets Sue, Leah, and Seth for the first time. She greets me nicely, but not like I'm anything more special than Seth. I mean, it's not like we are special friends or anything. She seems mostly interested in chatting up Sue about their "men," and how "bad" they are about following their diets. She talks a little with Leah, but Leah looks pissed at her for some reason. Then she and Sue go off to the kitchen.

Feeling a little at loose ends, I don't want to hang out with the men and talk about fishing. Seth gets chased upstairs to do his homework, so I go out to the back porch to sit. One thing about being a wolf is that you never feel the cold. I'm surprised to see Leah already out there, only wearing a sweater.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. "Aren't you freezing?"

"Not really," she says. "I guess I should be, but you're not even wearing a coat. At least I've got a heavy sweater on."

This is where being a wolf is awkward. Since Leah isn't a wolf or on the council, she has no idea of why I no longer feel the cold. And I can't even talk about it. It's not so bad for me because the only one I have to worry about is Billy. And he's in on the whole thing.

For Harry it's tough because Sue is always getting pissed off at him about different things that have to do with the time he spends at council meetings and his prejudice against the Cullens. And then there's the totally awkward situation with Sam and Leah.

He knows exactly why Sam dumped her for Emily. But of course, he can't tell her why. And he has to support Sam because that's how wolves just are. They imprint and nothing can change it, even if it means breaking another girl's heart. It all around really sucks because Sam still loves Leah, but he can't belong to her. He totally _belongs _to Emily now. She's it. She's the one. She literally owns him body and soul.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me," I reply. "I'm just not up to the fishing conversation now."

"So you would rather eavesdrop on the cooking conversation between Mom and Bella?" she says. "Listen to my Mom in there giving her all that motherly advice. It makes me want to gag."

Then we are both quiet so that we can hear them talking.

_"It's not so much that I worry about Charlie when I'm around," Bella says. "But when I'm not there, I never know what he's eating. He's been good since I came back, but he's never been very good at sticking with anything he starts. He tried before, but he gives up as soon as it gets hard."_

_"Well, it took two trips to the ER to convince Harry that he'd better mend his ways," Sue says. "I know what you mean about worrying what he's eating when you're not around. Harry likes to visit friends whose houses are full of junk food, and they like greasy cooking. Harry can't eat like that anymore."_

_"I think that the thing that's killing Charlie right now is the beer," Bella says. "He cut back to two cans a day when I came home, but now that they found the diabetes, he can't drink any. All those carbs break down to sugar. And sugar is the enemy."_

_"So you cleaned it out of the house?" she asks._

_"Yep," Bella answers. "I thought he was going to cry when I poured it down the sink. It's just that when he goes to visit Billy or his deputy Mark they're used to watching sports and drinking beer. And he doesn't want to spoil their fun."_

"You going to mention that to Billy?" Leah whispers to me.

"Like hell," I say, shuddering at the thought.

_"Does he know about what can happen if diabetes is out of control?" Sue asks. "You know. Diabetics, who don't keep their blood sugar low, can go blind or have their feet or legs amputated."_

_"I know Dr. Gerandy told him," she answers. "But I'm pretty sure that it has been too much for him to absorb at once. It scared me more than it did him."_

_"I'm surprised that he didn't go to Dr. Cullen," Sue says._

_"Carlisle didn't want to treat him because he said that it would be like treating family," she replies. "And that's unethical, I guess. But Carlisle is helping to explain things to him. He's a really good doctor."_

_"I know," Sue sighs. "I just don't know what Harry has against him. But speaking of the Cullens, that was very nice of them to take care of you like that."_

_"Well, um, they kind of see me as family too," she says. "And they're pretty supportive of Edward and me. But I'm really glad they were there for me when things got crazy."_

_"I don't mean to pry," Sue says gently. "But what was it that made everything fall apart for you? You don't have to answer."_

"Yeah, right," Leah says softly rolling her eyes.

There is silence for a minute. I listen carefully because I'd like to know that too. Billy was putting pressure on her about her engagement. And I know now that the guys were guarding her house in wolf form and it was making her crazy. I can't say I blame her, having a bunch of guys outside in the form of wolves watching your every move. It must have been pretty creepy, even though they thought they were protecting her.

_"Do you promise not to tell?" Bella asks._

_"Of course, I do," answers Sue._

"And she won't either," Leah says. "And you better not say a word or we'll both be toast. If she knew we were eavesdropping, she would skin us both alive."

I nod. Sue is definitely one tough broad that you do not want to mess with.

_"You see, I felt like I was living on a roller coaster," Bella says. "I was so happy about being engaged to Edward. And then Charlie seemed to accept it. Carlisle and Esme helped with him. They weren't too happy but they knew better than to try to stop us. Then Renee started in. She was yelling at me and yelling at Charlie. She likes to play head games when she doesn't get her way._

_"I got burned pretty bad taking something out of the oven, and Esme came to help us out. That was really nice. And Charlie liked her cooking. And then there were these nightmares . . . "_

Bella suddenly stops talking.

_"What nightmares?" Sue asks jumping in immediately. "You don't have to tell me unless you want. Charlie never said anything about nightmares."_

_"Well, Charlie called them night terrors, you know, like little kids get," she says. "I was scared that something was going to happen to Edward. Charlie promised to protect him, but it didn't matter. I was still freaking out. But I also started to have issues with the college counselor. She didn't think that I was smart enough to apply to the schools that I wanted to."_

_"But Charlie says that your very smart," she answers. "In fact he called us up as soon as he found out that you were number three in the class, and you have straight A+s, and you have really high SAT scores. And didn't you win some kind of award or something at your old school? He is very proud of you?"_

_"Boy, he really laid it on thick," Bella says, the embarrassment oozing out of her voice._

"He sure did," Leah mutters. "And I had to hear about it and how if I studied harder I could be like Bella. Seth could, but he's definitely the genius of the family. I'm just the loser, who can't even hold on to her boyfriend."

_"Well, a lot of that sounds like pretty normal parent-kid stuff," Sue says._

_"Maybe," Bella says. "But then Charlie started to put all these crazy rules on me. It was weird because one minute he was being nice to Edward and the next minute it felt like he hated him for no reason. He started acting like it was a horrible that I was getting married right out of high school."_

_"I got married right out of high school," Sue says. "And then I went to school later for my nursing degree. A lot of the girls do that around here."_

_"Yeah, well, Charlie married Renee right when she left high school and it didn't work out so well," she says. "And these days more girls go to college first."_

_"Well, I wouldn't even begin to compare you with your mother," Sue answered. "And these days a lot of young folks don't even other to get married, even after they have kids together. I'm glad that you want to do things in the right order. You and Edward don't have to get married to live together._

_"Leah was going to marry Sam. I am never going to forgive that boy for what he did to her! All those promises turned out to be nothing but lies. Emily comes over for a visit, he sets eyes on her and it was like Leah never existed. Maybe Charlie was afraid that Edward would do that to you."_

_"Edward would never do that to me!" Bella says fiercely. "But in the end, I was just too overwhelmed by everything going on. I couldn't stop crying. After I moved out of Charlie's house, I thought it would be okay because the Cullens even gave me a home. But that didn't help. It wasn't enough. I still can't believe that they moved their whole life out to the middle of nowhere in BC just for me._

_"At the sanatorium they said that I had been through too much in eight months between moving to a new state and school, my accident down in Phoenix, and then the stuff with the schools and fighting with Dad over Edward. When I started having problems with the school, it was the straw that broke the camel's back."_

We can hear the break in Bella's voice and even Leah is sympathetic.

"Poor kid," she whispers. "I guess that she doesn't have it so perfect after all."

_"You poor girl!" Sue says. "Don't cry. It's okay. I'm sure that everything will work out just fine. And you haven't said much about her, but I know would a nut job your mother is. She drove everyone else crazy for the short time that she lived here. But you're eighteen and she's on the other side of the country. You can't let her get you down."_

"I can't listen to this anymore," Leah says, standing up and walking into the yard. "I'm going to puke. She makes it sound like she and I are the best of buddies."

"Why? Doesn't she give you motherly advice?" I ask, following her out of earshot.

"She wants to," she admits. "But I don't really feel like listening to her pity for me anymore. That's the worst part, the pity. It's easier to just be angry like her. She hates Sam like poison. And she's even more pissed at Dad because he refuses to put any of the blame on Sam at all."

"Don't you hate Sam?" I ask.

"I wish," she says, turning away from me so that I can't see _her _tears. "I still love him and I still want him to come back to me. Sometimes I feel like I can get mad at everyone and everything but him because I still love him, like an idiot. I guess that I'm mostly angry at myself because I wasn't good enough for him."

When I think of what I know about what happened to Sam to make him turn away from her, I really wish that I could tell her. Then maybe she wouldn't be angry at herself. I know that it isn't about her at all. Sadly, it has nothing to do with her. It is about Sam and what he is.

"You shouldn't hate yourself like that," I finally say. "Or blame yourself."

"Don't you go feeling sorry for me too," she says through gritted teeth. "Dad says that I'm wallowing in pity, but I'm really wallowing in hatred."

"You sounded pretty pissed at Bella in there before," I comment. "What did she ever do to you?"

"Bella never did anything to me," she replies. "And I'm not even really pissed at her. I'm pissed at how unfair life is. She has it all. She has a fiancé who loves her. Man! Did you see that ring? And she looks so happy. She just kind of glows. I wish that I could say that it makes me sick, but I'm really just jealous. I want to be her.

"I mean, I do understand her better now and I realize that she's had her own crap to deal with. I mean, I'll take my Mom over hers any day of the week. And it must really suck having divorced parents, who can't stand each other. But when you look at her, you would never guess. And that's because she has her Edward, her soul mate, who will stand by her no matter what.

I clamp my mouth shut before I say something stupid and end up in all kinds of hot water with Sam. Boy, do I wish that he had put an Alpha order on me not to say anything about him and Emily! The whole situation totally sucks for Leah. And the worst part is that nobody can even explain to her why the love of her life dumped her for her cousin.

"Would you really want to be a white girl marrying one of those freaky Cullens?" I ask, trying to turn the conversation in another direction.

"You are such a guy," she says, rolling her eyes. "I want to be a Quileute girl engaged to the Quileute guy that I'd been dating since freshman year. And I wouldn't care if the ring he gave me came out of a Cracker Jack box. I want someone to be so loyal to me that he'd take care of me when I was sick and not dump me for my cousin.

"I don't care about the car and the jewelry and I bet that she doesn't either. It's not about that. It's about loving someone so much that it hurts. But did you hear her talking about those nightmares? I bet she's scared to death that she's going to lose the best thing that ever happened to her. And for her sake, I hope she doesn't."

"I can see that," I say, thinking of the way I feel about Bella and wishing that she loved me the way that Leah loves Sam.

"No, you can't, Jacob," she replies harshly. "This is going to sound really mean, but it's the truth. I know that you've been secretly in love with her since she came back. But Bella never looked at you the way that Sam used to look at me. She never went out on dates with you or kissed you. She never made love to you and made a million promises about how she would be with you forever. I _wish _that I hadn't had that with Sam. I had everything, and now I have nothing."

"And I never had anything," I sigh. "Does everyone know that I have a crush on Bella?"

"I'm afraid so," she says without much sympathy. "Your buddy Embry has a big mouth."

"You're right," I say pissed at how well Embry kept that out of his thoughts when he was around me. "Your situation totally sucks. It's not fair at all."

"Tell me about it," she says bitterly. "And the worst part is that Sam won't give me one good reason for why he dumped me. He just says 'loves her more.' And he had the nerve to say that he still loves me. He looks at _her_ the way he used to look at me, like she's the only girl in the world. And she's so damn happy. He even got her that little cabin where they live. And because Emily is my cousin and used to be my best friend, I have to be a bridesmaid."

"No, you don't," I say.

"Yes, I do," she insists.

"No, you don't," I say. "Just say no. Don't you think your Mom would back you up? Why should you have to be tortured watching Emily marrying your guy? It's not fair. And if they start a fight with you, just think of how you can yell at them and tell them how it sucks that after Emily screws you over and steals your guy, you have to be a bridesmaid. You know, it would probably do you a world of good to just let all that anger out."

"You do have a point," she says. "It would feel good to not be the good sport. And why should I have to suffer through them looking all lovey-dovey at each other and saying 'I do?' You're not as dumb as you look, Black."

"Thanks for the compliment," I say. "I think."

"You know," she says. "I don't really understand why my Dad and yours hate the Cullens so much. I mean, yeah, they're kind of too freaky white. But that's not a crime. And they're totally rich. But that's not a crime either. And Mom says that if it wasn't for the doctor, Dad might be dead."

"Well, I don't know that much about it either," I say, lying through my teeth. "I know that Billy is dead set against any of us going to the hospital again now that he's back. And he sure as hell is dead set against Bella marrying Edward."

"Well, that is none of his damn business," she says fiercely. "If you find a guy who loves you as much as Charlie says that Edward loves Bella, you hold onto him. And you don't let _anyone_ break you up."

All of the sudden the door opens up behind us.

"Hey, you two!" Sue says. "I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing out here in the cold? It's dinner time."

I walk into the kitchen and see the spread that's laid out on the table. Sue is making all of us eat healthy tonight, with a few concessions to the rest of us. When I get home I'm going to have to eat at least a dozen hot dogs to make up for it. Leah notices the same thing.

"Mom, how are we supposed to live on this rabbit food?" she asks. "I'm starving."

"Me, too!" Seth complains coming in. "Maybe when the guests leave we can make some real food!"

"Well, then maybe you and Leah can cook and clean up after yourselves," she replies. "But I don't want to hear another word out of you two. You'll just make Charlie and your Dad feel worse."

"They should feel worse," Leah mutters.

There isn't enough room for everyone in the kitchen, so we have to grab plates and sit in the living room. Actually, the food is pretty good. Sue and Bella made fish in lemon sauce, green beans, rice, and salad. But for those of us not into the rabbit food, there are big biscuits and gravy and corn on the cob. Charlie and Harry both look longingly at the carbs. Sue has no patience for it.

"Get those hang dog looks off your faces, you two," she says sternly. "You'll get no sympathy from me."

As we juggle ourselves around, I find myself sitting on the floor with Seth near Bella and Leah on the couch. I can see Leah looking at Bella with envy. Bella seems to be unaware, but Seth looks up at her and rolls his eyes. I might have done the same thing if I hadn't just been talking to her outside.

"Hey, Jacob," Bella says pleasantly. "How is the Rabbit coming along?"

"Pretty good," I say, happy that she remembered. "I think she should be done soon."

Leah kicks me with her foot, no doubt to remind me not to act like a lovesick fool.

"You should see it, Bella!" Seth says eagerly. "It's awesome!"

These days, Seth has been my one-man fan club. Even though he's fourteen, he has suddenly shot up like a beanpole. Unlike Harry, Sue is always trying to make him eat. Tonight both he and Leah are chowing down. Compared with us, Bella is eating like a bird.

"What were you working on for homework?" Bella asks him, so he feels included.

"History," he says making a face. "But it's all white man's history."

"That stinks," she says. "Why don't you do some research about the Quileutes and write about your own history."

"Yeah right!" Seth laughs. "We have history all right, but it's just a lot of creepy, old legends."

"You should have more respect for your heritage son," Harry says, overhearing him. "And you should be proud of who you are."

"That's right," I say. "We were here first. And there's a lot more to Native American history than just our tribe. We're all part of a larger fabric of life."

"You're lucky that you have a personal history to study," Bella says. "When I was in fifth grade I had to do a family history and all I knew was that we were European. There wasn't much to tell."

"I'm afraid that I don't know much either," Charlie admits. "The family kept moving west over the generations. I guess that we just kind if stopped when we hit the Pacific."

"Don't worry about it," Bella says with a grimace. "Renee turned it into a creative writing assignment. I felt like a jerk."

"We've always been here," Billy says. "And don't you forget it, Seth. You come from a proud line of ancestors. Never forget that the blood of Taha Aki runs in your veins through both your parents."

"Yes, sir," Seth says, a little cowed now.

"Who's Taha Aki?" Bella asks.

We all stare at Billy because it's part of the sacred histories that outsiders are not supposed to know. But Billy answers smoothly.

"He's the greatest chief our tribe ever had," he says proudly. "Many in our tribe are descended from his blood, but some have a closer connection than others."

Bella looks suitably impressed.

"Well, I think that you're lucky, Bella," Leah says all of the sudden. "Next year you get to go to college and move east."

"Are you going to college, Leah?" Bella asks.

"If I'm lucky," she says. "But the money is hard to come by."

"No, Leah, you can apply for scholarships and financial aid," Bella says. "When I was applying, Edward and I looked online and I was even able to get aid to apply for schools."

"Well, excuse me," Leah says. "But we aren't online here."

"Leah!" Sue says, looking exasperated.

"No, that's okay," says Bella. "I totally understand. Before we had Internet in Phoenix, I had to go to the public library to use the computers there to do my homework. But if you want to come over my house sometime, I could help you look."

"That's really nice of you," Leah says slowly. "You don't have to do that."

"It's not a big deal," Bella says. "It took me a while to get the hang of managing some of search engines and websites. And there are scholarships for people in special categories, you know, like African-American, Native American, children of veterans. And a lot of times nobody even knows to apply so no one gets the money."

"Wow, that would be really cool," says Leah, actually smiling for the first time all night.

"Just think of how exciting it would be to be the first in the family to go to college," Sue says encouragingly. "And I think that it would be very good for you to get away from home and be on your own."

Sue is looking like she wants to kiss Bella. And I know it's because she wants to get Leah away from Sam and Emily. Harry looks at her with a kind if grudging gratitude, but Billy looks like he wishes that he could turn into a wolf and tear her to pieces. I know that it's because Bella knows all this stuff because of Edward and he can't stand the idea that one of the Cullens might actually be helping the tribe.

"Yeah, Leah!" Seth says. "And then when it's my turn, you can help me go to college too!"

I look over at Billy and he is staring at me, almost daring me to announce that I want to go to college. I have a feeling that he is thinking about how I won't really have a shot at college because I have to be a wolf and guard the tribe. I'll have to be sure to tell him that I don't want to go to college anyway because I want to fix cars.

I talked to one of the mechanics in Forks once and he said that you can't beat it for a job that won't go to Asia. Folks might buy cars from Japan and Korea, but they have to get the fixed here. I may be useless with schoolbooks, but I sure great with my hands.

"So Jacob," Bella says to me. "Will you go to college some day?"

"No," I say. "I'm more of a technical school guy. I want to build and fix cars. By the way, I got the truck running again. It only needed a new battery."

"I figured," she says rolling her eyes. "But I have to admit that I do like the SUV."

"What do you like about it?" I ask curiously.

"The radio is awesome, and the leather seats are great," she says. "And it has climate control and automatic windows."

"You are kidding," I say. "The radio is your favorite thing?"

"A radio is a very important asset," she says in a huff. "But the power steering is pretty cool too."

"Okay, you got me there," I say. "I guess it's more of a guy thing to like the stick shift."

"No, I thought that it was more of a guy thing to go fast," she says.

"Not in those old cars he drives," Billy interrupts. "But then we all can't have rich boyfriends."

There is silence in the room and I want to fall through the floor. Here I am having a nice friendly conversation with my old friend and Billy has to go and ruin it. But he's probably still pissed about the college thing.

"Oh, I don't think that putting a kid in a car with limited speed is a bad thing," Charlie says. "You should see all the kids I pull over speeding along the highway. All those city kids coming out here in their fancy sports cars to go to the beach, you know. But Bells and I got to get home. She needs her beauty sleep."

"Thanks a lot, Dad," Bella grumbles. "But I'm not the one the doctor told to go to bed earlier."

"Ha, ha," he says. "And I'm not the one with a Spanish quiz tomorrow."

"Okay, you two," Sue says. "You've made your points. You need to get home so that you can both get your beauty sleep."

"I'm afraid that it's too late for Charlie," Harry says laughing.

I walk out with Charlie and Bella to the car. It's a Mercedes SUV. I have to whistle.

"Holy cow!" I say. "That thing is built like a tank!"

"Yes," Bella says. "Thanks to my ridiculously over-protective fiancé."

"No offense, Bells," I say. "But with your luck, it's probably a good idea to put as much body armor around you as possible."

"You can say that again," Charlie agrees.

"And I suppose that you would like to get some exercise walking all the way back to Forks," she answers sarcastically.

We both laugh at her as she stomps around to the driver's side. There's a high step going in and she slips on the way up, ruining her impression of anger with her clumsiness (and proving our point). I look at Charlie and we can't help it. We are practically falling on the ground laughing. Bella starts the car with a loud "vroom!"

"I better get in before I'm in more trouble," Charlie whispers. "It was good seeing you, Jake."

"You too, Charlie," I say. "Bye, Bells!"

But she turns her head away from me and flips her hair over her shoulder. I suppose that she's still mad at me, but oddly, I don't care at all. After they pull out, I turn around and see Leah right behind me.

"Well, Jacob," she says. "You've redeemed yourself."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"It means that you weren't hanging all over her like a lovesick puppy," she says. "Okay, that was a low blow. But she really is a pretty nice person. I would do anything to get out of La Push and away from Sam and Emily. It's not like I've ever been nice to _her, _but she offered to be nice to me."

"You might have to stand being around her creepy boyfriend," I remind her.

"Let's see," she says. "An hour or so with the creepy boyfriend versus a lifetime at La Push watching Sam and Leah live happily ever after and have a dozen kids. I think I can manage tolerating him."

"Hey, Jake," Billy calls from the doorway. "You need to get home for some sleep too."

"Okay," I say, and go over to help him out since Harry's house doesn't have a wheelchair ramp.

"Goodnight, Sue," I say. "Thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome, Jacob," she says. "Don't be a stranger."

"I won't," I reply. "Your cooking is sure a lot better than mine or Billy's."

Billy is silent on the drive home. I know that he's mad at me because I refused to try and drag down Edward the way that he was. I guess I just let too many opportunities go by. When we get into the house, he looks at me sternly.

"You need to try and get Bella away from that Edward," he says. "You shouldn't be encouraging her by showing your approval of that ridiculous monstrosity he bought for her."

"I was only laughing with Charlie about the car because she almost fell on her face getting in," I say. "And we didn't even talk about him. It was all about the car, not the guy."

"Well, you know that you might have some leverage with her, if you know what I mean," he says.

"No, I don't know what you mean," I say stubbornly. "But Edward is none of my business unless he breaks the treaty."

"He is going to break the treaty," he answers. "And you know exactly how. Don't you feel any remorse for not preventing a tragedy?"

"Look, I'm not the Alpha in the pack," I say, attempting to avoid having this discussion. "Sam is. And I have to follow his orders."

"You should be Alpha," Billy says. "It's your birthright."

"Well, that may be true," I say. "But I'm still in school. Sam is almost four years older than me. He knows a lot more and he has the time for it."

"Are you questioning my judgment?" he asks. "If I told you to leave school, you would. You're sixteen."

"This isn't about your judgment," I say. "It's about the fact that I need to finish my education. I want to go to technical school and learn how to fix cars."

"You know how to fix cars," he says. "You do it all the time."

"Look, Dad," I say trying my hardest to be patient. "Rebuilding old cars is nothing like working on new cars. They have computers and stuff in them. I don't know how we got into this discussion, but I still have homework to do."

"You've never been so eager to do homework before," he mumbles. "Go upstairs and do it already."

I can't wait to get out of his sight. I'm finally starting to figure out how things are with Bella. She's never going to be my girlfriend, but she's still my friend. And she's happy. And friends want other friends to be happy. And I bet if I told her that I loved her even though she wouldn't laugh at me, she'd feel bad for me. She might even feel guilty like it was _her _fault that I was a jerk.

I think about Sam and Leah and understand how they can never be friends, even though Sam would like to. He just doesn't seem to get how much she is hurting. I can read inside his head and in some ways it's worse for Leah because he just won't let go. He should stop saying that he still loves her. He shouldn't say that he hates her, but he should just back off.

And after I talked to Leah tonight, I realized that I was being stupid wasting my time mooning over a girl who had never seen me that way. I look at her and see how happy she is and I know that I wouldn't do anything to spoil that for her. I think of how she was when we walked along First Beach last year and it's a world of difference.

Back then, she seemed like a lost soul. She didn't look happy at all. The kids that she was hanging out with barely seemed like friends. There was that one jock that was trying to put the moves on her and then that blonde chick that got all snippy on her. And okay, I think that she was trying to get information out if my and that was why she was kind of flirting, but well, that's okay. It was pretty lame flirting when I think back to it anyway.

I remember the conversation that she was having with Sue in the kitchen. It made me feel kind of uncomfortable to be listening in on a private talk, but I couldn't help myself. She and Sue were talking about the Cullens like they were normal humans. I tried to think of what my opinion of them would be if I didn't know the truth about them.

Everything they talked about was how good they were to Bella, Charlie, and everyone else they knew. Carlisle is this rich doctor, I mean I've heard some of the other people in the tribe talk about how he could probably make big bucks in some fancy city hospital, but instead he works here. And they certainly aren't snobs.

And they have those yellow eyes that mean that they don't drink human blood. Of course the way they do feed is pretty disgusting. I could really have lived without those visions in Jared's mind of him sucking at the throat of that big cat. And while I can't see myself being best friends with them, I don't see why, for the next few months, they don't have to be our enemies.

I hate to think of Bella becoming one of them, but maybe Sam has the right idea. They're going off about a thousand miles from and then it's nine of our business. And I can be happy if Bella is. And that's probably the biggest difference of all between Leah and me. She will never be able to be happy for Sam. It's really hard to blame her for that.

But for me, there's no point in "mooning" over Bella anymore. For as long as she's here, she can be my friend. I just I hope that I don't end up having to spend too much time around Edward if I want to see her because, man, does he stink! I guess that I'm going to have to figure out how to deal with my Dad.

I really get how much he hates the Cullens. I know that in his case it's really not personal. He has those stories in head and he's had them his whole life. He knows that the wolves exist to kill the vampires. But I want to think like Sam that the wolves exist to protect the tribe. And if the Cullens aren't a threat to the tribe then we don't have to kill them.

I really hope that someday, I don't have to choose between Sam and my Dad. Of course, Sam can put Alpha orders on me, and Billy can't. I know that it's the coward's way out, but I hate arguing with Billy.

_Author's Note: Next update will be the first marriage counseling session._


	9. Counseling Blues

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 9: Counseling Blues**

On the drive back from La Push, Charlie and I are both quiet. I am still annoyed because he and Jacob had been making fun of me. He is thinking things over, occasionally looking puzzled. When we get back from Harry's house, I go directly up to my bedroom where I know Edward will be waiting for me.

"I'm just going to check on the scores, okay, Bells?" Charlie says. "Don't use all the hot water!"

"Okay!" I call over my shoulder.

Edward is the first thing that I see when I walk into the room. He is sitting in the rocking chair, looking at me thoughtfully. I run over, immediately sit on his lap, and give him a kiss, which he responds to more enthusiastically than usual.

"So how was dinner at Harry's?" he asks when we come up for air.

"It was actually pretty good," I answer. "I spent most of my time with Sue talking about Charlie and Harry and stuff."

"What kind of 'stuff'?" he asks in a tone that is both curious and suspicious at the same time.

"Well, she was asking about my breakdown last fall," I say. "And I did a very good job of walking the line between truth and falsehood. I did a very good job of describing everything that was stressing me out without making any mention of vampires and werewolves. With a little more practice, I might even be ready to be a Cullen."

"Hmm," he says. "Why don't you take your shower so that we can talk?"

"And in the meantime you can listen to Charlie's thoughts?" I ask.

"He's reviewing the night right now," he explains. "He's hardly paying attention to the sports news. Since I want to know about the visit from both sides, I want to be able to focus on each of you individually so I don't miss anything."

"Sure," I say. "I'm sure that you're very interested on fishing."

"They didn't just discuss fishing," Edward replies.

So I go off to the bathroom and complete my usual nightly routine. When I'm done, I go downstairs and startle Charlie when I call his name to say goodnight. I don't get the impression that it's because he is concentrating on the basketball scores.

"'Night, Dad!" I say, as he jumps a little, thus proving Edward's explanation that he wasn't completely concentrating on the news.

"'Night, Bells," he replies. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah," I say. "I really did. You're right about Sue. She's really great. And Leah was pretty nice too. I hope that I can help her find a good college and some money to go there."

"Yeah," he says. "That was a little weird, seeing her act normal for once. She's been so cranky lately, sassing her Mom and Dad, and picking on little Seth. Sue looked happy that you were drawing her out a little and getting her to talk civil. Sometimes I don't know how she stands that girl."

"Uh, okay," I say, not wanting to get into an extended conversation about Leah. "But I don't know that I would exactly call Seth 'little.' He has to be almost six feet tall."

"Probably one of those growth spurt things, but he sure is skinny," Charlie answers. "Kind of like Jake was last summer and fall. Billy could hardly keep him in clothes."

"The short hair is new," I remark. "When did he cut it?"

"Some time before Christmas," he answers. "Said it was easier to take care of. I wouldn't doubt that. Makes him look a little older too, and neater. But I noticed that he cleaned himself up. Usually he's covered in grease."

"Maybe Sue didn't want him getting her house dirty," I reply. "She doesn't seem like someone that suffers fools gladly."

"She isn't," Charlie says grimacing. "But she's got it tough, holding down a job, not to mention dealing with Harry's health and Leah's moods. At least Seth is easy."

"Well, we can talk more tomorrow," I say, eager to get back to Edward. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure, Bells, have a goodnight," he says, awkwardly giving me a kiss as I come over.

I race up the stairs two at a time and when I return to my room, notice that Edward is now stretched out on the bed. He has his hands behind his head, and is staring pensively at the ceiling. But the minute that I enter, he looks over at me and gives me his heart-stopping, "you're only girl in the world" smile to me. I melt, tossing my things carelessly off to the side and slipping under my comforter next to him on the bed.

"So what was Charlie thinking?" I ask.

"It's not really worth reporting word for word," he replies. "They did talk mostly about fishing. Billy was pretty quiet, but Harry tried to make a couple of allusions to your engagement. You will be happy to know that Charlie is firmly in our camp."

"So is Sue," I say. "When we were talking, she said that everyone else should just mind their own business. She told me that she got married right out of high school and then got her nursing degree. And she said that she was totally in favor of Leah marrying Sam right out of school before he dumped her."

"Well, then it makes sense for Leah to be grateful for your help in getting away to college," he says. "She probably is dying to get out of La Push to get away from him. Charlie knows a little about that story and was thinking about what would happen if I dumped you. The last thing that he wants is for you to become as bitter and unhappy as Leah is."

"Yeah, I think that Leah is very bitter," I reply. "You know she puts off this real tough image. She's really sarcastic. But you can tell that she's hurting badly underneath. It's not when she talks, it's when she's still. She looks so sad. She's a really beautiful girl too. I can't help but wonder what she was like before Sam broke up with her."

"There's not much way of finding out," he says. "You can hardly ask someone, who knows her if she was a nice person before she lost her boyfriend."

"Hardly," I agree. "But I really don't want to talk about Leah. We have a meeting about our future marriage with Dr. Weber tomorrow and we should talk about that. Did you ask Carlisle what he might ask?"

"Well, he's probably going to want to get into some of our family histories," he answers. "And then he's going to ask us how we met and about our courtship."

"Our courtship?" I ask giggling.

"That was Carlisle's word, not mine, even though it is the same word that I would use" he says. "And then he's probably going to hit us with why we want to get married so young."

"Sue told me that we were doing it right by getting married," I say. "She said that most kids in our generation don't bother to get married. They just live together. And of course, you're too old-fashioned to do that."

"I'm liking Sue more and more," he says, smiling. "I hope someday that I get to hear her thoughts. They would probably be very interesting."

"I would be more interested in hearing Leah's thoughts," I say. "But there's no reason why you couldn't be here when she comes over to use the computer to find stuff about college online."

"I'm sure that they don't have Internet access or a computer there," he says, more to himself than me. "It's such an integral part of our daily lives that it is easy to forget that there are more people than you realize who don't view it as just another utility like water and electricity."

"No, they have even less money than Charlie and I do," I say. "The Clearwaters are trying to get by on one paycheck and Harry's disability to support four people. I don't think that Sue can even work full-time with all her responsibilities at home."

He looks thoughtful for a minute.

"I was just reviewing what I had seen in Charlie's mind about the visit," he says. "Focusing on the house inside and out. It's pretty clear that they are just scraping by."

"And it doesn't help that Seth and Leah both have huge appetites," I say. "Not that either of them have an ounce to spare. And after the big dinners that they ate, they were going to make more food after we left. Actually, Jacob has the same huge appetite, but it's more understandable for him. He's enormous. Can you see how he looks in Charlie's mind?"

"I noticed it before when Charlie was thinking about them making fun of you when you talked about the, um, amenities of the SUV," he says smirking.

"I bet," I mutter.

"So getting back to the Dr. Weber meeting," he says. "I don't think that we have to worry too much about this first meeting. It will be easier to stick to the truth. I'm the one who is going to have to do a majority of the lying anyway, and I've been telling this cover story for a while."

"And I'm getting better at the whole half-truth thing," I say. "You really would have been proud of me."

"Um, just out of curiosity," he asks. "How did you get along with Jacob?"

"Jake, well, I really didn't talk to him much," I say. "But towards the end, he was as annoying as one of your brothers is to you! Like when he was making fun of me because my favorite part of the new car is the sound system. And then he and Charlie were laughing at me when I tripped getting into the front seat."

"So he's just an annoying little brother?" he asks in relief.

"Why?" I ask. "Are you jealous?"

Silence.

"Come on, Edward," I say. "Jacob is just a kid. Of all the people to be jealous of! But I guess that you've always held a pretty big grudge against Mike."

"It's not the fact _that _he thinks about you that makes me want to slam his head into a wall," he says. "It's _the way _he thinks about you."

"Okay, let's not have this discussion again," I say. "I'm still feeling a little keyed up from tonight."

"You had that much fun?" he asks, the jealous edge coming into his voice again.

"No, it's not that," I say. "It's more like I've been dreading this for months and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And the fact that I would potentially go back to Harry's with him will make Charlie happy. I just have no desire to go to Billy's. He still gives me the creeps. He stares at me like he's going to tie me up and hold me captive."

"It _does _make Charlie happy for you to go over with him to visit," he says. "It was one of the things that he was thinking of. He was also thinking that even though he hated it when you were away, he really is glad to see how much your whole mental outlook has improved. And he's sorry that he let Billy influence him before. He also had it in his mind that it might be better to stick to visits at Harry's house rather than Billy's."

"Well, that's good," I say, as I settle myself in more comfortably. "I wonder why it's so important to him?"

"Probably for the same reason that you think it's important that Charlie like my family and me," he says. "They're his best friends. He doesn't like to think that you're at odds with them."

"I wish I could tell him that it's all _their _fault," I reply. "I have no reason to dislike them for their own sake. But if they are going to hate you and make me pick sides, then I know whose side I'm on."

"And Charlie knows that too," he says. "And he knows that the antipathy is on their side. But because he's in the dark about the salient points, it makes it that much harder for him to deal with. But obviously, he can't understand why."

"Obviously," I say, yawning again.

"Goodnight, love," he says softly, as he turns on the Bose.

"Goodnight, Edward," I answer and close my eyes as the sound of my lullaby fills my ears.

It doesn't take long for me to drop off into a sound, dreamless sleep. After a peaceful night, I say goodbye to Edward before he climbs out the window and get ready for school. It's one of those days that go by much too quickly. Despite my seemingly blasé attitude, I'm really nervous as hell about what Dr. Weber might ask and how much I am going to have to lie and conceal in order to avoid telling him that Edward is a vampire.

The next day, when school is over, Edward is kind of dragging himself out of gym. This is unusual because normally, he can't wait to be free from the tedium of the school day. I can see that he is no more enthusiastic aid am about going. As we walk to the SUV, I notice that Alice is already gone in the Volvo. Edward glowers at the empty space beside my car.

"What?" I ask.

"Gone already," he grumbles. "She spent the last hour translating Berty's lecture into Esperanto."

"Oh, so then she must have seen something that she doesn't want you to see," I say.

"Stinker!" he says in consternation. "Carlisle told her not to clue me in as to the possible outcome of our session with Weber."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because, she would only be seeing the outcome," he explains. "While Weber has the questions in his mind that he will ask us, the direction conversation could change at any point based on our answers. Carlisle was afraid that if I saw a poor outcome, I might bail out."

"Oh, does this mean she sees a bad outcome?" I ask.

"No," he says. "He said that if she saw a good outcome that I might become careless in my answers. I'm going to have a hard enough time because while I can pick out his thoughts, I can't pick out yours. And I cannot let you know how he is responding to our answers. And you can't communicate with me the way that Carlisle and the others do so that I can indicate what he is thinking using subtle non-verbal cues."

"Welcome to the real world of the mentally mute," I reply. "Mr. Know-it-all. Now you know what it feels like to be one of the little people."

"Hah! I've known about that ever since I first laid eyes on you," he exclaims, but doesn't say anything else since we have arrived at our destination.

After I park the car, he insists on coming around and opening my door for me. I don't argue because I can see that he is very tense. He takes my hand in his and almost holds it a little too tightly. Whatever the thoughts are that he is picking up from Dr. Weber, he doesn't like them. The pastor is waiting at the door in the back of the church to greet us.

"Hello, Bella," he says, extending his hand. "Edward."

Edward has taken his usual precaution of wearing gloves so that Dr. Weber doesn't feel the true temperature of his hand. But he does notice it is colder than most.

"Are you nervous, Edward?" he asks kindly. "Your hand is freezing."

"A little," Edward answers hesitantly, not to mention honestly.

"Well, there's nothing to worry about," he answers soothingly. "This is just a chance for me to get to know you better."

We enter the comfortably, and simply, furnished office. I see pictures of Angela, her mother, and her twin brothers scattered around. There are also some inspirational quotes on the wall. The bookcase is full to overflowing with various theological and psychological books, many quite recent.

"So," he says as we sit down in the conversation area, he in a chair and we on the couch. "As I just said, we are starting by just getting to know each other a little. As you know, I am the pastor of this church and I am married with three children. We have been living in Forks for almost twenty years."

I nod, liking the fact that he is not sitting behind his big oak desk. Edward is watching him warily and picks up my hand again.

"My wife and I grew up together in Portland," he says. "In fact we were high school sweethearts. But we went to different colleges. She attended Reed and I went to Berkley, where I got my degree in psychology and counseling. Throughout college we maintained a long distance relationship, very successfully, I think.

"After college we got married and she worked as a teacher while I attended theological seminary in Missouri. But we didn't like the Midwest, so when I started applying for livings, as we call them. I made all of my applications to Washington and Oregon. Now Edward, it's you turn. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"I was born in Chicago," he answers fluently as he relaxes his hand in mine, his cover story well practiced after all these years. "Both my parents died when I was very young. In fact, I hardly remember them. Carlisle was just finishing up his internship when Esme found me in a facility for kids waiting for foster placement where she was volunteering.

"She felt bad for me because I was so shy and quiet and asked if she and Carlisle could become my foster parents. By that time, they had discovered that she wasn't able to have children. They took me in as part of a foster care to adoption program. When the state was unable to find any blood kin to adopt me, they did."

"All of your siblings are adopted, I understand," Dr. Weber says. "But you were the first."

"And the youngest," he says. "They were all adopted at different times and in places depending on where Carlisle was working at the time. He was, um, economically fortunate, so the places where he chose to work were often rural, isolated, and without access to good medical care."

"Yes, I remember that from when we hired him for the hospital," he replies. "I am on the board there. We felt very fortunate to be able to get him for our little community. We regret that he is leaving soon."

"Esme is really all about us kids," he explains. "When the other three went easy to college, the idea was that we would follow in a year. She doesn't like being so far away from all of us. There are some rather, um, poor communities in the rural areas of New England. That's why we all will be attending college there."

"Yes," he says. "And one of your brothers just came home after the first semester with mono."

"Yeah," he says with a sigh. "Carlisle thinks that Jasper was also homesick."

"I've always found it curious that you address your parents by their first names," he says.

Edward looks thoughtful as he ponders his response, his thumb moving in small circles around my hand, which is starting to get cold. I wonder what he is reading in Dr. Weber's mind.

"When I was little," he says at last. "I called them Mommy and Daddy. But when the others came along, the first one was Emmett. He refused to call them Mom and Dad because he remembered his own parents too well. He addressed them by their first names and they accepted it because they understood how he felt. He was my hero. I had always wanted a big brother. So I copied him."

"What did Carlisle and Esme think of that?" Dr. Weber asks.

"Carlisle thought it was funny," Edward replies. "But looking back on it, I think that Esme didn't like it much."

"But she never complained?" he asks.

"Not to me," he replies. "Esme had, and probably still has, a tendency to indulge me, even more than the others. I think that because she can't have children herself, she tends to spoil us. If I wanted to call her by her first name, she let me."

"Interesting," Dr. Weber says as he scribbles some notes. "Bella, why don't you tell me a little of your history. I know a little from being in town at the time your parents married and had you, but my information is rather sketchy."

"Well," I begin. "As you know, Charlie and Renee married young, had me a year later, and when I was still an infant, my mother left Forks with me."

"You also call your parents by their first names?" he asks raising his eyebrows.

"Not to their faces," I reply drily. "But from the time I was little, Renee always called my father Charlie whenever she talked about him. She never corrected me when I called him that, but he insisted that I call him Dad. I've always called Renee Mom to her face. But in a sort of contrary way, I call her Renee when I think about her and always that way when I speak about her in conversation with Charlie."

"So you grew up mostly with your Mom," he says, staying the obvious.

"Yes," I say. "When I was younger we lived in California with my grandmother. She worked at all different kinds of jobs, but finally finished college and got her teaching license. After that we moved to Arizona where she was a kindergarten teacher."

"And what was your relationship with your father at this time?" he asks.

"Until I was fourteen, I spent six weeks with him here in Forks every summer," I reply. "But I hated it. So when I was fourteen, I rebelled and we spent the next few summers together in California for three or four weeks. That was the compromise."

"Then things changed when your mother remarried," he says. "How do you like your stepfather?"

"Phil is okay," I answer. "I mean, he's almost ten years younger than her, but she's always been pretty immature. As long as she's happy, then I can't complain."

"So you like him, but you don't want to live with them," he says.

"Not exactly," I say with a sigh. "Phil's a minor league ball player and travels a lot. Renee stayed home with me. But she was pretty miserable when he was away, so I decided to spend some quality time with Charlie. That was when I moved here."

"But if your mother had not remarried, you would have remained in Arizona," he says.

"Sure," I say with a shrug. "I had no reason to leave."

"But you didn't really want to come here," he states. "I'll rephrase that. You came here for her sake, not yours."

"I wouldn't say that's entirely true," I answer grimacing. "It's not like Renee was that easy to live with when Phil wasn't home; if she was, then I wouldn't have come here."

"Interesting," he says again. "Are you sorry that you came here?"

"No," I say immediately.

"Why is that?" he asks.

"Because if I hadn't come here then I never would have met Edward," I answer, smiling at him.

He gives me a kind of half-smile back, as if I have given him the answer that he expected, was hoping that I wouldn't give. I wonder where these questions are leading. So far, we haven't gotten into any dangerous territory. Even Edward was truthful, omitting the fact that he didn't mention any dates, leaving Dr. Weber to make his own assumptions.

"Have you been entirely happy here?" he asks. "Apart from being with Edward."

"Um," I say, now seeing the reason for Edward's look. "I'm glad that I've gotten to know Charlie better."

"Okay, Bella," Dr. Weber says. "I know that these questions are difficult for you to answer. Among other things, we are going to be talking about some very intimate and potentially uncomfortable questions about your family relationships and how they intersect with your relationship with Edward and his family. But these are things that you need to consider when you marry.

"Often a young couple will live in a kind of 'bubble of bliss,' you might say, in the early stages of their relationship. If you are going to make a marriage work, you have to start out by understanding the depth of your love for one another. When you move past the first stage of infatuation, there has to be a strong foundation to build on.

"As the pastor, who will marry you before God, your friends, and your families, it is incumbent upon me to make sure that such a foundation exists. Too many people, young and old, get married today without giving much thought as to what their lives will be like after the wedding and the honeymoon are over. That's when the really hard work begins, of forging two separate lives into one. Do you understand what I am talking about?"

I nod silently, thinking that there is no way to explain to this serious man of God that I want to become a soulless vampire like my beloved. He will never understand that depth of not only passion, but also genuine love that we feel for one another. We are mates. True soul mates. We have recognized in one another that each is the half of the other. I know that this is what he looking for in determining the true extent of our feelings for one another, but I don't see any way of explaining it to him.

"I know that you want to give what you perceive as the right answers," he says, when I don't say anything. "But I am not looking for what you would call a 'right' answer. I'm looking for the truth. There are a couple of events that have occurred in the last year that I would like to review with you.

"Now last spring, you ran away to Phoenix to get away from Forks because you couldn't stand living here anymore. Then you were severely injured when you had a fall while going to meet Edward and his father in a hotel. Dr. Cullen had brought his son down so that he could try to convince you to return. This is true?"

"Yes," I say. "But I was scared. I thought that things were going too fast. I didn't want to get trapped in Forks like Renee did. And I felt like if I didn't get away then, I would, get trapped that is."

"Why did you think that you would get trapped?" he asks. "You were only a year away from leaving for college. In fact, you were less than six months shy of eighteen, at which point you could go and do anything that you wanted."

"I, er, wasn't looking that far ahead," I say.

What else could I say? If I told him the truth, he would want to lock me up. I couldn't just say that I left because a vampire wanted to kill me. He is the first person who has really probed the issue. Charlie had just been so glad that I came back that he never questioned my motives for leaving too quickly.

"Bella, this is obviously a very difficult thing for you to face," he says gently. "But I am not sure that you fully recognize things as they are. Now I know that Charlie didn't go down to Phoenix because your mother went and got there before him. And Edward and his father were there with you. Didn't you have the opportunity to go live with your mother in Florida at this point?"

"Yes," I say briefly, looking at him sharply.

"Charlie told me," he answers my unspoken question. "If you left because you didn't want to be trapped in Forks, you now had the opportunity to leave permanently and go back to living with your mother. Why didn't you take it?"

"Because I didn't want to leave Edward," I say truthfully.

Dr. Weber looks from me to Edward. Edward opens his mouth to speak, but he silences him with a look. I can see that he is trying to discern if Edward might not perhaps be an obsession with me. I realize that his talks with Charlie might have tipped him off in that direction. I begin to forage through my mind for a semi-truthful, comprehensible answer. Finally, I think of something.

"After I talked to Edward and Carlisle, I realized the same thing that you just said, that if I came back, I wouldn't get stuck here forever," I say. "They told me that Edward would be leaving for college in a year and I could too."

Dr. Weber gets a look on his face that says, "that's what I thought." Edward does not look entirely pleased with my response.

"Okay," Dr. Weber says. "Let's move forward to this fall. The school year started off normally enough for you, yes?"

"Yes," I reply, fearful of where this line of questions might be going.

"But you became overwhelmed by stress for some reason," he says. "In fact, you were so overwhelmed that you had a breakdown of sorts and Dr. Cullen and his family took you to a special hospital in Canada where you recovered, rather well I would say. Since the reason that you are here is that you and Edward wish to marry and you two became engaged at the time of the breakdown, I can't help but think that there was a cause and effect relationship between the two events."

"There wasn't," I say immediately.

"You had no stress at all related to your engagement?" he says.

"Um, uh," I begin, searching my mind for something that didn't have to do with werewolves poisoning Charlie's mind against Edward and nightmares where they were killing Edward, not to mention a rabid vampire seeking vengeance for the death of her mate.

"Bella, please," he says patiently. "You're doing it again. Stop trying to look for the right answer. I am looking for the truth. Let me help you break this down Tell me. Did your parents approve of your engagement?"

"No," I admit, but don't say any more.

"Edward," he asks, turning to him because he realizes that he won't get any more out of me right now. "Did your parents approve of your engagement to Bella?"

Edward was so lucky to be such an accomplished liar!

"Yes," he replies. "But only conditionally. They wanted to make sure that this was the right decision for us. If you hadn't asked us to come for pre-marital counseling before you would marry us, they would have made us go anyway. They wanted to support us, Esme more than Carlisle."

"Because Esme was always the more indulgent parent?" he asks.

"Esme has always wanted me to be happy," he answers smoothly. "She could see that I was very happy with Bella. If we wanted to get married, then she was glad to support us."

"You were not happy before you became engaged to Bella?" he asks. "Let me rephrase that. Were you happy before you met Bella?"

"Not entirely," he admits grudgingly, no doubt hating to give anything away. "Until I met Bella, I had never known anyone, who understood me so well."

"Is Bella your first girlfriend?" Dr. Weber asks.

"Um, no," he says, after a moment's hesitation. "There was one. But it wasn't serious."

I look at him in surprise, forgetting that this might be part of the cover story he was weaving, and Dr. Weber immediately picks up on it.

"What was her name?" he asks.

"Tanya," he says reluctantly, looking at me.

"You never told me that she was girlfriend," I say, completely forgetting the context of his admission. "You told me that she didn't interest you."

All that i could visualize was the glorious vampire with strawberry-blonde curls trying to flirt with Edward when we first arrived in Alaska. Edward sighs and pinches his nose between his fingers. Dr. Weber, missing nothing, pounces on this line of thought.

"Bella," Dr. Weber asks. "Have you ever had another boyfriend?"

"No," I say firmly. "Edward is the only boy that I have ever loved and that I will ever love."

"Really?" Dr. Weber asks in surprise. "You must have dated some other boys in Phoenix at least."

"No one ever asked me out in Phoenix," I admit. "I mean, look at me. No boy ever considered me date material. Not to mention the fact that I am a clumsy oaf."

"I'm surprised about that," he comments. "Not only about the fact that you never had a date, but that you hold yourself in so little regard. Tell me. Has any boy at Forks High School, other than Edward, ever asked you out on a date?"

Well, crap! There's no getting out of this one. The whole world knew that I had turned down three guys for the girls' choice dance last year, and that Tyler showed up at my house on prom night to take me.

"Yes," I say shortly.

"How many?" he asks.

"That's none of your business," I reply tersely.

"Bella, now you know this," he says kindly but with a touch of sternness. "You've been in counseling before. Everything that is related to you and your ability to make a clear-headed decision about getting married at this young age of your life is open to questioning."

"I'm sure that you know the answer," I retort.

"C'mon, honey," says Edward softly. "Just answer the question."

"Three, okay?" I say, furious because it looks like Edward is a traitor. "Three guys at school asked me if I would ask them to the turn-around dance last year. And then Tyler thought that he tricked me into going to the prom and showed up at Charlie's house to take me."

"But you weren't interested in them because you were dating Edward?" he asks, moving into what I consider safer territory.

"No," I say. "Edward and I weren't dating yet. I was still hoping."

"For what?" he asks curiously.

"I was hoping that Edward didn't hate me anymore," I say, blundering off track again.

"Edward hated you when you first met?" he asks in surprise.

I've done it again! I've stepped right into it. Edward looks away from me. But I have to answer truthfully. Even Mike had noticed how hostile Edward had been to me that first month. He couldn't have been the only one to notice.

"Well, maybe hate is too strong a word," I say. "He didn't exactly like me."

"But he did save your life about a week after you came here," he says.

"Yes," I reply. "He was standing next to me at my car and pulled me out of the way when Tyler's van skidded on the ice. Of course he would have been crushed too if he hadn't gotten us both out of the way."

"So he didn't hate you then," Dr. Weber prompts.

I look back at him in confusion.

"Well, if he did hate you," he continues. "He could have just let the van crush you. And he was, after all, standing beside you at the time. Generally speaking, most people avoid those they hate."

"Not if they're lab partners," I answer sarcastically, once again annoyed that I've fallen into another trap.

There were probably times, although he has always denied it, that he secretly wished that he had. Actually, he hated me even more after that because I had witnessed his superhuman strength. It had made me determined to discover his secret. I can't even look at Edward at this point. Finally he speaks.

"I never hated Bella," Edward says. "I was just a little, um, distant. I was uncomfortable around her."

"Why is that?" he asks.

Okay, Cullen. Now it's your turn to extricate your foot from your mouth. You can hardly tell him that you were uncomfortable because my blood smelled too good to you and you were afraid that you would kill me. At this point, I understand exactly why Edward had thrown such a fit over counseling. It was a veritable Pandora's box of hidden secrets and tripwires. But I had forgotten how good a he was at this kind of subterfuge.

"Bella was very attractive to me," he says. "I was only a year and a half from graduating and already looking at college on the east coast. I didn't want any . . . entanglements. I thought that it would be better for both of us if we didn't become involved. I didn't want to hurt her by leaving."

"So you were attracted to her from beginning," he says. "You were concerned about getting too involved and then leaving her behind when you went away to school. What changed your mind?"

"I couldn't stay away from her," he replies (very truthfully, I might add). "And I could sense that she was attracted to me. I was hurting her feelings anyway. So I took a risk, which I don't regret by the way. But we hadn't gone out that long before she became worried about the same thing that I did and ran away to Phoenix."

"So then," he says. "We are back to Phoenix. Since she hadn't answered my question, perhaps you can tell me. How did you convince her to return to Forks when she could have gone to Florida to live with her mother?"

"I guess that you could say that we both had the same concerns about what would happen in the future," he says. "So I told her that she wouldn't be trapped in Forks because we could go away to college together. That solved my problem of not wanting to hurt her by leaving her behind."

"But you don't have to get married to do that," he points out. "There are a lot of boys and girls, who go off to college and continue to date there."

"Edward is a little old-fashioned," I say. "He wanted to do things the right way by getting married first."

"Meaning that you would have considered the option of living together without the benefit of marriage," he comments.

"I would, but Edward wouldn't," I reply. "We both love each other very much, but we still haven't, uh, done it."

"By 'done it,'" he says. "I believe that you mean slept together."

"That's the euphemism for it," Edward says wryly probably thinking about how we sleep together every night. "But no, we have not had sex. And we don't plan to unless we are married first."

"Interesting," he remarks. "Very interesting."

I don't like the way he is saying that.

"What's so interesting about that?" I ask suspiciously.

"It is very unusual for young people of your age, who wish to marry, show up in my office and declare that they have not slept together," he replies. "And those who do, are usually lying to give what they perceive is the 'right' answer. I believe that you are telling the truth. But it leads to another question. Because you have decided to refrain from that degree of physical intimacy until marriage, doesn't that then become an inducement to marriage?"

"That's one way of looking at it," Edward says.

"What's the other way?" Dr. Weber asks with a "this has got to be good" look on his face.

"That we know that we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together," he says. "And that we regard that degree of intimacy, as you call it, as part and parcel of marriage. It is a part of the commitment that we will make to one another."

"Okay," he says, because as a pastor, he can hardly refute that logic. "We can return to this issue later. However, Bella, you still have not told me what the stressors were that led to your breakdown. I don't want you to leave here until I have an answer to that question."

Because you're afraid that if I have time to think about it and consult with Edward, I will be able to come up with a smooth lie. But I completely believe that he won't let us leave until I tell him that. My brain goes into overdrive so that I can think of something to tell him that will get us out of here as quickly as possible.

"Okay," I say. "I was really upset after I talked to the college counselor and she told me that I was too dumb to apply to the same colleges as Edward and Alice. And I had recently severely burned my hand and it hurt a lot."

I stop for a minute to remind myself not to talk about the nightmares. I had slipped up last night and sort of told Sue about them.

"And, yeah, I guess some of the stress was caused by the engagement," I continue, tacking backwards a little. "But not the way that you think. There were kids making all kinds of nasty comments and rumors in school. And Charlie and Renee were giving me a hard time. In fact, I had such a big fight with Charlie that I went to go live with the Cullens. It felt like everything good in my life was falling apart before my eyes. And that was after things had finally gotten good for me.

"You see, I was miserable when I had to move here because Renee got married. I hated the climate and the school. I didn't have a lot of good friends and some of the ones I had weren't very nice. It was like the only good and perfect thing in my life was Edward. But I wasn't allowed to be happy. I finally couldn't take it anymore. Carlisle tried to take care of me, but he knew that I needed a specialist.

"He didn't want me to have to go away to some state hospital all by myself, so he found the private sanatorium in BC and got me a place there. Then the family moved north with me so that I wouldn't be alone. Esme taught us and Carlisle helped out a local clinic. With the proper treatment, I got better and now I'm back."

"And you are much happier now," he says.

"Much," I agree. "Charlie is supportive of me and I'm living at home again. Things have gotten a lot better at school too. And I don't get all upset when things don't go right."

"Can you give me an example?" he asks.

"When the whole thing started with the class ranking," I reply. "It seemed like everyone was more upset. I mean, I wasn't happy, but it didn't think it was the end of the world. In the past, I would have been very upset and thought that it _was _the end of the world."

"So then, you feel like you are in much better control of yourself," he says. "And you are happier than you were before you left."

"Much," I say. "And I've had a lot of time to think while I was recovering. And there's nothing more that I want in the world than to marry Edward and spend the rest of my life with him."

"I can see that," he says kindly. "Well, I think that we've talked long enough for one day. Do you want to come back next week at the same time?"

"Sure," I say even though that's the last thing I want.

"Edward?" he says.

"Yes, sir," Edward says, his face a smooth mask (a sure sign that he doesn't want to come back either).

"Okay, then I will see you after school next Thursday," he says.

After we walk out of the church and into the parking lot, I turn to Edward and say, "Could that have gone any worse?"

"Only if you had started talking about vampires and werewolves," he says. "We need to talk to Carlisle about something right away."

As we drive out of town, I am dying to ask what Dr. Weber was thinking during our meeting. But Edward is only looking pensively out the window.

_Author's Note: Thanks to my awesome reviewers, who let me know that they like my take on Jacob. I always felt that he was short-changed character wise by never being allowed to develop into anything more into the unrequited lover until he imprinted on an infant. _

_I decided to use the technique of having him listen to the words of others and commenting on them, with Leah as a foil. I had found it a useful device for teasing out Edward's character but the only way to create a similar effect with a "non-mind reader" was by eavesdropping. _

_I really wanted you (the readers) to see his evolving mindset and the new understanding that he has of his situation with Bella when considering it in light of Leah and her situation with Sam. I know that a couple of anonymous reviewers were annoyed by the previous Jacob chapter, but I needed to start at that point to be able to write this chapter and a future chapter. For the purpose of the story I needed to set Jacob free from the "leash" that his infatuation with Bella had put on him. I thought that I would be cheating you if he suddenly had an unexplained epiphany when Bella returned._

_And I always felt bad for Leah and the fact that nobody had any sympathy for her. I decided to kind of lift that whole "Bella can't let go of Jacob and he doesn't give up hoping thing," to the "Sam and Leah thing." And I thought that making her be a bridesmaid for Emily was definitely cruel. _

_I really wanted to open up new possibilities for both characters, so I will be writing "off canon" for them. And I really need these iterations to make the rest of the story work. I hope that you will like the results in the future!_


	10. Wolf Drama

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 10: Wolf Drama**

As we drive back from our first pre-marital counseling session with Dr. Weber, eloping to Vegas is starting to look better and better. Weber is a skilled counselor, very insightful, and highly intelligent. All of these attributes added to not only an uncomfortable session, but also a dangerous one. Unlike Charlie, Renee, and the high school administrators, Weber is not going to be satisfied with glib explanations of private sanatoriums. He is determined to ferret out the truth.

If it were simply a matter of proving to him that the sanatorium was real, that would not be the problem. We have so much experience fabricating people, places, and documentation, that it would be no sweat (not that vampires can sweat anyway). We have fooled many experts with far more experience in tracking down the truth than him. But what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in intuition. And he has that in spades.

The real issue is that the worthy minister was able to pinpoint every microscopic hole in our story like a laser beam. No lie, whether is may be well or poorly told, is ever perfect. It wasn't just Bella's lying that made him suspicious. I have never met a human that could so easily read through my own obfuscations.

Of course, his rational, theological mind cannot possibly imagine the truth. While the man has a deep faith in God and the existence of heaven, he is utterly skeptical of the supernatural world. In his mind, vampires and werewolves are metaphors created by ancient people to explain odd, natural phenomena.

Angels, literal and figurative, act as a force for good in the world. However, bloodsucking demons only exist in horror stories, fairy tales and Hollywood flicks. Ironically, if we told him the truth rather than any deceit we might devise, he would be more likely to disbelieve it.

When Weber told us that he wasn't looking for "right" answers, he was looking for the truth, he wasn't kidding. He has heard just about every foolish justification for getting married in the world, but only rarely has he ever refused to marry a couple. He has seen couples squirm and stammer before him as they try to avoid telling him things that embarrass them.

But his intentions are pure and he isn't out to "get" anyone. His purpose in discovering the truth is that he feels that it is his duty to help each engaged couple he works with to uncover and talk out potential issues. He knows that if he says "no" without doing this, then the couple will just go somewhere else. His purpose is not to deny marriage, but strength it. It is difficult to be bothered by such a sincere man.

It is very obvious where Angela gets her sterling character and kindness. This is a man with a highly sympathetic view of human nature. Still, he loathes intolerance and seeks justice in any situation. His perception of morality and ethics is incredibly idealistic, while his view of humanity is realistic. He considers it his job to help the very real humans in his parish to strive for the ideal. And he works to protect the weak. And in many ways, Bella is weak.

The vibe that he is picking up from Bella is that she is very needy emotionally. He can tell that she had a difficult upbringing and that due to various and different reasons never really deeply bonded with either of her parents. He suspected as much based of his talks with Charlie.

And he recognized (based on those talks), as I did, that Bella often fell into the role of parent or caregiver rather than child. His fear with regard to her is that she is marrying me to get away from them and to have a more secure future with someone, who genuinely loves her. In short, she, even if she doesn't realize it, hungers for a loving caregiver of her own.

He has discerned from my answers that I absolutely, unconditionally love her. But he is also afraid that I am rushing into marriage with this image of myself as the "knight in shining armor." As an adopted hold who was showered with love and care nice I was young, I want to provide that for another. He admires my old-fashioned stance on pre-marital sex, but thinks that it may be a part of my incentive to marry young. Overall, he thinks that my intentions, though highly worthy, are also idealistic.

And since he does not know my actual age, he views me as a somewhat callow youth caught up in a romantic, not to mention simplistic view, of a complicated situation. He knows that Carlisle is a highly rational and pragmatic man and cannot think why he is indulging my wish to marry so young. He can definitely see Esme as an overindulgent parent because of her "fertility" issue, but Carlisle, no.

Weber is also afraid that I don't realize how I might be getting in over my head with a girl as emotionally fragile as Bella. He is not completely convinced that Bella's deeply rooted fears and anxieties could be cured in a few months of therapy and medication (he presumes). He is concerned that she may not be getting the follow up care that she needs here. He is hoping that he will be able to excavate all of these various issues and get us to talk them through.

It has been his experience that if young couples talk openly and honestly about the potential pitfalls of life together, that they come to the conclusion on their own that they need to wait a year or two to marry. His greatest fear is that we will go off to college, not fully aware of each other's needs and the marriage will fall apart causing both of us more grief and agony. In that situation, he is very fearful for Bella's mental health.

There is not a single point in his line of thinking that I can quarrel with. It is apparent that he only has our best interests at heart. But he is worried that Charlie is signing off on the marriage because he is afraid of losing Bella completely, and my parents are because Esme has always overindulged me.

He has totally discounted Renee as a actor in the story. She clearly has lost her influence over Bella due to her unyielding stance. But the worst part is that he has discerned that he is only getting part of the story.

Convincing him that whatever cover story we design is true is going to be a uphill battle. About the only thing that I am grateful for at the moment is that I have a vampire memory. I will need to recall every detail for Carlisle so that he can help us work things out.

"We're here, Edward," Bella says, as she pulls the car up in front of the house, shaking me out of my rumination.

I haven't even noticed that we have driven out of town. Carlisle comes out onto the porch to meet us.

_You seem distracted. Esme is making dinner for Bella right now. And there will be enough to bring some home for Charlie._

"So kids," he says. "How did it go? You were there longer than I had expected."

"It could have gone better," I say cautiously.

"I'm afraid that part of the problem was that I got caught up on some of the questions about how we met and started dating," Bella replies apologetically. "And towards the end I got testy."

"In what way?" Carlisle asks, looking concerned.

"I told him that Edward started out by hating me," she answers. "But then I couldn't exactly say why because I couldn't tell him that my blood smelled so good that Edward wanted to kill me. The because I was frustrated, I became defensive."

"Well you certainly couldn't talk about that," Carlisle says wryly. "But I thought that we going to try to avoid those kinds of answers. You know, the kind that raise more questions than they answer."

"We did," she says a little miffed. "But, Edward, you went off script too. Why did you tell him that Tanya was your old girlfriend? I thought that we weren't going to mention her."

"As I was reading his mind," I reply. "He was thinking that it would be terribly odd if we had never dated anyone else before. I am very young for marriage in this century and Weber wanted to know if I had any real experience with girls. He was also afraid that if you were my first girlfriend that I might be infatuated with you, rather than in love with you."

"But I said that I never dated any boy before," she says. "In fact, I said that I had never been on a date before."

"Yes, you did," I reply. "And he quite definitely does think that you are infatuated with me. He also thinks that your family situation has left you feeling like you don't really have anyone, who really loves you. In addition to me, you will be getting a whole family of people who love you. And that's why you want to get married as soon as possible."

"It sounds as if he was drawing some pretty strong conclusions," Carlisle comments. "And some of them are not in your favor."

"The big problem is that he has discerned, quite accurately I might add, that we are censoring what we tell him," I say. "He knows that he is not getting the whole truth, so he is filling in the blanks based on his own experience counseling engaged couples. In short, he knows that we are hiding something."

"We are," Bella says. "It would be a whole lot easier if we could just tell him the truth."

"Actually," I say. "If we tried to tell him the truth, he would laugh at us. His rational mind can't even imagine what the Cullens really are. He would just perceive it as a lie. But that isn't even the biggest problem."

"What is?" Carlisle asks.

"He wants to have all the information that we can give him about the sanatorium," I reply. "He wants to be able to call and speak with the director and Bella's private doctor. He is also concerned that it appears that Bella isn't getting any follow up care here. He knows from talking to Charlie that he knows almost nothing about the details and has totally entrusted Bella's care to you, assuming that you will do the best for her."

"It sounds like we need to coordinate with our cousins in Alaska," he replies.

"At the very least," I say. "But he is also going to ask Bella to sign a HIPAA form so that he can get all of her records. And he will want to check out the place, at least online."

"Well, Jasper can take care of that," Carlisle says. "He's the expert in forgery. We've done all of this before. I would say that the biggest problem is going to be the follow up care."

"I can't go to another shrink," Bella groans. "Look at the mess that I made of the first session with the marriage counselor!"

"There is nothing that you said that we can't explain to Weber when he meets with us again and asks follow up questions," I reply. "My vampire mind remembers not only every word you said, but every thought he had. And he had plenty of doubts in those thoughts."

"I'm sure that he did," Carlisle says. "From our perspective, the strongest argument for you two marrying is that you are true soul mates in the vampire world. And once you change Bella, she will never be any older than she is. The two of you will be eternal teenagers, occasionally hiding the fact that you are married."

Bella immediately begins to shift anxiously between one foot and another. We need to address this before the conversation progresses any farther.

"Let's go inside," I say. "You must be hungry, Bella."

"Starving," she answers. "It's almost dinnertime, isn't it?"

"For humans," I tease. "Don't worry, Esme is waiting with a dinner for you and something to bring home to Charlie."

As we go in, I am assaulted by Alice's thoughts as she walks in with a plate from Esme. Bella immediately sits down and begins to eat.

_Dr. Weber is calling up Charlie to say that he is concerned because Bella isn't getting any follow up care from her trip to the sanatorium here._

I inwardly roll my eyes.

"Bella," I say. "Alice tells me that Dr. Weber is going to call up Charlie because he is concerned that you aren't seeing a shrink down here."

"Charlie can't make me see a shrink," she says. "That's my choice."

"Um, that may be true, but it won't work as a reason to avoid it," Carlisle says. "Most psychiatric facilities do not release patients without a plan for follow up care. So your doctors would be very remiss if they didn't plan for outpatient care before they released you. This can mean private therapy or group therapy. It could also possibly mean medication. Now saying that you are on a maintenance med like, say, Lexapro, is pretty easy to fake.

"However, the logical option for someone like you would be private therapy, preferably with a psychiatrist who would be writing your prescriptions. This is much more difficult to fake since such a therapist would, just like Dr. Weber, figure out pretty quickly that you're lying."

"It's just so much harder than I thought it would be," she says. "The problem is that it's not just one lie, it's a whole series of lies that I have to tell to keep the first lie consistent."

"That's very true," Carlisle says. "It's the difference between telling one falsehood or fudging facts and creating an entire cover story based on lies. We are going to spend the next week working on a cover story for your relationship. And you will practice explaining it so many times that it will sound perfectly natural when you tell it to him. In some ways, it's lucky that you left so many holes in the story. We can fill them in and you can continue to let him drag the details out of you."

"Why can't I just tell him the new story?" she asks, after she finishes chewing her food.

"You have to continue the way you started," I reply. "If you go from only giving reluctant answers to suddenly telling him everything, he will think that you're lying. But you have already established with him that you don't like talking about personal. And that's okay, because you truly don't. It is completely within character for you. I'm afraid that this is how we live our life. Creating a new identity requires lying."

"Do we have to keep talking about this?" she asks, her annoyance rising again

"Not if you don't want to," Carlisle replies. "Why don't you eat that dinner that Esme made for you and Charlie in peace?"

"That's fine with me because I'm sick of this conversation," she says. "And after I eat, I have to get home and do a lot of homework."

"Well," I say. "I would really like to go hunting. Carlisle, do you want to come?"

"Sounds like a good idea," he replies.

_And we really should talk. She'll be less cranky after she eats. _

"But you'll come to Charlie's before I go to sleep, right?" she asks.

"Of course," I say soothingly. "It's still early. I have plenty of time to hunt and the get to your house before ten."

"Okay," she says. "I'm glad that I won't have to cook for Charlie. I really need to get on top of all this schoolwork. I can't believe how much work we have to do and we haven't been in school for a whole week."

"Well, at least tomorrow is Friday," I say. "Then we have the whole weekend off."

The thought of that cheers her up. By the time I walk her and her plate of nasty goo into the kitchen where Esme is waiting with open arms, she is in higher spirits. I am in higher spirits once she sits down again to "enjoy" her food before she collects the leftovers for Charlie. I can't believe that humans don't starve on that slop. I walk to the back of the house to find Carlisle waiting for me.

_Are you ready to go?_

"Yup!" I reply, and we run out the backdoor.

Because we are still only a month on the other side of the winter solstice, the woods are already dark. There are a few flakes of snow drifting down, which indicates temperatures below freezing, but we don't feel it. In fact, because there is no chance of human contact, we aren't even wearing coats. One of the most annoying things about winter among humans is the necessity of bundling up. All those layers are bulky and make movement difficult.

I always feel a certain freedom after we leap over the river onto the other side of our property. We've been home now for almost two weeks, but in some ways it feels like we never left. If I had my choice, all things being equal, I would rather have stayed in Denali. I think about our happy and relatively peacefully life up there with our cousins and the new home that we left behind, and take a deep sigh.

_Are you regretting that we returned to Forks?_

"Yes," I reply. "Life would have been much simpler if we had stayed in Denali."

_Yes, in the short term, it would have been easier. But in the long run, Bella would have been filled with regrets that she never made up with Charlie and gave him a proper farewell. You gave her the choice out of love. It's not fair for you to place any guilt on her for choosing the path she wanted._

"I'm not trying to make her feel guilty," I say.

_You aren't consciously trying to make her feel guilty, but every time you talk about all of the complications of getting married here, that's what it sounds like. She feels bad enough as it is because she is such a poor liar. We overestimated her ability to manage such a complex deception. But that's our fault, not hers. You are clearly frustrated by Weber, but sometimes it sounds like you are frustrated by her._

"I'm sorry that I ever mentioned how Angela felt about her father marrying us," I say. "I know that she would have been perfectly satisfied with a civil ceremony before a judge. Bella is not the least bit religious and she wouldn't have cared. But now we are backed into a corner."

_Very true. But you can't back out now. If you do, it will look very suspicious. I have no doubt that Dr. Webber would call up Charlie and express his doubts. We are simply going to have to come up with an ironclad story. We've done it before. And we can come up with any form of documentation or interview that he asks for. So you just need to . . . Look! To the right!_

I can smell it too. There is a herd of elk with at least one mountain lion shadowing them. Like us, they don't feel the cold. We run in the direction of the scent. I leap up to catch the lion on a tree branch, while Carlisle runs in to snag the largest elk. Thankfully, although we are fairly close to the treaty line, there are no wolf boys around to disturb my meal.

When we are done, and have buried our kill, Carlisle looks over at me, and smiles.

_Feeling better, son? I thought a snack would take the edge off your nerves._

"It did," I say. "Let's climb some trees. I feel like I have some excess energy to work off."

_Most people would call that nervous energy._

The pines here are close enough together that we can easily leap from tree to tree. Now that I've fed, I'm more interested in seeing if we can't find any wolves to eavesdrop on. Since they can't smell us from the ground, we can spy without them being aware. Carlisle is aware of my intent, because he points across the river.

_Jared and Paul._

I nod. We both settle into the upper branches of a large spruce next to the river and hope that they start thinking something worth listening to, and then not move for a while. Of course, Carlisle can't hear anything, but he will know if I do. The wolves walk to the river, lap some up, and then sit back on their hunches and look around.

_Man, Paul, I don't know why we have to keep running these patrols. The redhead is gone and the Cullens aren't going to do anything. I wish that I could be the one who stays back in the village._

_And how much good would that do you, dummy? You would still be in your wolf form. Do you want to sit next to Kim so that she can pet your head? _

_Don't be ridiculous! Besides, Sam isn't a wolf right now. And don't pretend that you're not jealous because you haven't imprinted yet._

This is the second or third time that I've heard them use the word "imprint" when they are talking about their girlfriends. It's a new term for them. The other three wolves that we met back in the thirties never thought about it. And in their previous conversations, I wasn't focusing on these modern wolves' female relationships. I was more worried about their relationship with us. But it was always in the back of Sam's mind. He was always completely aware of her presence in his life.

I try to see what's going on in Jared's mind with regard to his "imprint" Kim. She apparently is to him what Emily is to Sam. Luckily, Paul's reference to her has gotten him thinking about her. It very quickly becomes obvious that an imprint is the nearest thing that there is in the werewolf world to a mate in the vampire world. However, it is the wolf that imprints on the girl. It is not exactly a reciprocal relationship.

Evidently, Kim was a girl that Jared went to school with. The first time that he saw her again after he phased last summer, he was hooked. It was like nothing else existed for him in the world but this girl. He adores her with every fiber of his being. And she has had a secret crush on him for all these years. As far as he is concerned, life worked out perfectly.

_Don't act so smug, bro. You just happened to be lucky that you imprinted on someone who had always loved you. Not to mention the fact that you didn't have a girlfriend at the time._

_Yeah, man! It really does suck for Sam that he was so tight with Leah before he imprinted on Emily._

_Sucks more for Leah, from the way that Jacob was thinking earlier. Boy, Sam must be sorry that he made all of us phase because Quil did. In addition to dealing with a brand, spanking new freaked out wolf; he had to listen to Jacob thinking about what Leah told him about how miserable she was._

_And old Jake sure as hell did enough of his own editorializing. For a while there I thought that he was going to mutiny against the boss. Who knew that Jacob even gave a crap about Leah?_

_It wasn't really about Leah. Jacob is a boy with a very strong sense of justice and ideals. He never really thought too much about Leah and the effect on her, because he only had Sam's side if the thing. But Leah sure gave him an earful without even knowing what it would mean to him. And Embry was definitely thinking the same way that he was._

_Embry always thinks that same way that he does. He always has. Why do you think that he didn't tell him to turn it off or if he couldn't, to phase back?_

_I don't know, maybe because Sam likes to torture himself. That's all he's been doing since he first imprinted on Emily and just dumped Leah._

_It wasn't totally like that. Sam didn't want to dump Leah. But he didn't have a choice. Emily was it. She was the only thing in his mind. _

_Tell me about it! Sometimes I feel like I know Emily better than I know myself. But you know, sometimes it feels like everyone is excusing Sam for being an asshole because he's the Alpha. It's like Leah doesn't count for anything. She's just the collateral damage in the wolf world. I really hope that Bella can help her find a college far away from La Push so that she can get away from all this crap._

_Yeah, but, come on. Poor Quil didn't know what to think. He needed all of us to cope with his first time phasing. He was so scared that I didn't think that he would ever phase back to human. And Jacob is his best friend. All of the sudden he's turned into this huge brown wolf with five different voices in his head and the first thing he gets to hear about is that the reason Sam ditched his girlfriend who he was all but engaged to is because he imprinted on her cousin._

_"Poor Quil" nothing! He's totally psyched about turning wolf. And he had to know sooner or later. And I still don't feel sorry for Sam. He may not be able to tell Leah that he imprinted so that he can have a perfect excuse for dumping her, but he's got to just stop saying that he still loves her. And he better watch out, because Harry or no Harry, Sue is going to rip him apart for what he did to her daughter._

_Well, he's lucky that at least Harry knows the whole story. It's too bad that wives can't know the truth. Then Sue would understand._

_Understand? You're the one who doesn't understand, you idiot! Sam broke Leah's heart. Even if he could tell her the truth, do you think that it would hurt her any less? All I know is this. I'm not dating any girl ever again._

_What? That's crazy! Talk about being an asshole! _

_No! An asshole is someone who knows that he could imprint out of the blue, but still leads some girl on because he thinks that it can't happen to him. Sam should have stayed away from Leah as soon as he knew she wasn't his imprint. He knew it the first time he saw her and nothing happened. Crap! They fought so many times because he couldn't tell her the truth about being a wolf. _

_Maybe he didn't think he would imprint. None of the last three wolves did._

_That's no excuse. After all that trouble, he goes and imprints on her cousin of all people. She has it in her face all the time. But it really takes the cake that he's pissed at Jacob for telling Leah not to be a bridesmaid because it will hurt Emily's feelings. That whole thing was just so wrong! Besides, Jake and Embry are with me on the whole dating thing._

_But Emily is his imprint. As far as Sam is concerned, Emily's feelings are the only ones that matter._

_No offense, dude, but that's pretty messed up. You dump a girl for her cousin and then you support the cousin's request for the girl to be a bridesmaid at the wedding. I don't know what the hell is wrong with Emily. She knows the whole story on before sides. You would think that she would have more sympathy for her. _

_Uh . . ._

_See? Even you can't answer that one. And if Emily's not careful, Sue is going to take her apart too. You would stick the knife in and twist it like that for Kim's sake, I guess. But you won't have that problem. That's why I say, no dating unless I imprint. I may be a jerk, but I'm not sadistic monster._

_That's pretty harsh, Paul. What makes you think that you can pass judgment on the Alpha? How can you follow Sam if you don't respect him?_

_Who said anything about respect?_

_Okay, you might not have said it, but you certainly implied it. And imprinting isn't a bad thing. Billy says that it's necessary to breed stronger wolves._

_Following Sam to protect the tribe (even if I didn't respect him and I do) has nothing to do with his imprint. And please don't use the word breed in the same sentence as imprint. It really makes me feel like an animal. Right man, all that matters where Emily is concerned is that I don't kill her. Besides, she is a damn good cook._

_We've been sitting here too long. Sam is going to come back into our heads any minute and he'll be pissed if we are still in the same spot as when he left us._

With that, they trot off down the river towards the ocean. Jared is thinking about his girl Kim and Paul is thinking about Quil's joy, albeit belated, at discovering he was a wolf, after he got over being scared that is. I have to admit that the conversation was extremely fascinating. I can only think that Jacob must have really felt terrible when he had to listen to Leah talk about Sam and was unable to tell her the truth.

However, now that I _do _understand the whole imprint thing, I am greatly relieved. Things would have gotten very sticky, if Jacob had imprinted on Bella last night. After all, it was the first time that he had seen her after his first phasing, and that's when it happens. I wonder if he was disappointed when it didn't happen, or if he had even thought of it.

It is difficult to imagine the battle that would have occurred between the two of us. It would have been a fight to the death and all out war between the wolves and the vampires would have started. Bella would have been devastated to know that she was the cause of it all. I suppose that the person whose thoughts I would _really _like to hear now are Emily's.

What kind of a person participates in such a scheme that is breaking the heart of her cousin? Even worse, why does she feel the need to ask Leah to be a bridesmaid? Sam must be exerting some kind of a powerful hold over her if she is willing to do that. However, Jared's connection to Kim tells me that it's Emily who is holding onto Sam.

I wonder if Bella knows anything about imprinting? Probably not, since she's never mentioned and I didn't really know what it was until tonight.

_That was a very long conversation. What were they thinking about?_

"Women mostly," I reply. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow. I have to get to Bella's house."

_Of course, you do. So I guess that you are not the only one with these kinds of problems._

"Hardly," I reply, as we drop to the ground.

I run to Bella's house, thinking about the wolf conversation the whole way. This whole business about imprinting has a creepy aspect to it. The wolf sees his imprint and immediately becomes attached to her. Her response is presumed by the wolf. She is so overwhelmed by his love and devotion that she can't help but respond. In the case of Jared and Kim this whole "imprint at first sight" was the fulfillment of a dream for the young lady, not so with Sam and Emily.

Probably the worst part about Emily's first reaction was the danger that she put herself in when she initially rejected her imprinter. Sam was so angry that he phased in front of her, as he was reaching his hand out towards her, and he was too close. As they were arguing, she had gotten into his face and the next thing she knew, his claws were literally sinking into her face.

She had no idea at the time that the "man" she was dealing with was some kind of privileged hero of the tribe. He was her cousin's boyfriend and, at least initially, Emily had the good grace to be disgusted by his advances. It has become a lesson for all potential imprints. Don't reject your imprinter.

However, the sinister part of the whole thing is that if you are not in on the werewolf secret (in other words, the vast majority of tribe members), you do not even know the true story behind Emily's loss of her once beautiful face. You think that she was clawed by a bear when she was out hiking with Sam.

And then, you think that the Elders are crazy because instead of letting her go to the best doctor in the state at the county hospital, she goes for substandard treatment at a local clinic that was not equipped to deal with this type of injury. Then, lastly, she ends up falling in love with Sam and breaking her cousin's heart anyway. Even Leah doesn't know the whole story. Instead she feels betrayed by both her best friend and the man, who promised to marry her.

After hearing the background thoughts of Jared and Paul, my estimation of Jacob Black has increased a thousand fold. He sat with Leah eavesdropping on Sue and Bella's conversation. From what I could tell, she spilled her guts to him about her pain and anguish. And she was terribly jealous, although not hateful, of Bella. After all, Bella has everything that she had and lost. Jacob was deeply conflicted because he could see Leah's torment, for lack of a better word, but couldn't tell her the truth of the matter.

Although the excuse that men (or women) often give in a break up is "it's not about you it's about me," in this case it is absolutely true. And Sam is pouring salt in the wound by professing to still love Leah, while Emily wants Leah in her wedding party. Jacob actually went so far as to tell Leah to refuse. She deserves better. Now Jacob is in trouble with Sam because Emily's feelings are hurt.

The situation is creating a subtle divide in the pack. Paul and Embry agree with Jacob that Leah got the raw deal of the century. Embry and Jacob (not just Paul, have refused to date until they imprint. Paul's mind indicated to me that the three of them confronted Sam on the issue, but he responded with an Alpha order not to discuss it with him or Emily. But the order does not include Quil or Jared.

Jared, who understands the phenomenon better than either of them, is siding with Sam. Quil, who is still adjusting to his new incarnation, hasn't formed an opinion yet. Despite their good intentions, I can't help wondering what will happen if any of the other three imprint. I wonder if they will sympathize with her anymore.

Paul, a very strong personality as well as a hothead, has lost some respect for Sam. To date, he has not given an Alpha order to them not to speak of imprinting to Leah. Logically, he shouldn't have to, because it is insider information. However, Paul perceived in his mind that if one of them were to tell her, he wouldn't mind. Paul views this as cowardly. But where Leah is concerned, Sam feels nothing but ambivalence.

He feels terribly guilty for ditching her the way that he did. It was literally a matter of one minute, he and Leah were trying to work out their disagreement about his hours on patrol and away from her, and the next he was completely mesmerized by the sight of Emily. And Leah had no idea what was happening.

When she approached her parents regarding Sam's betrayal, Sue was livid and Harry refused to comment. He also prevented Sue from railing against Sam the way that she thought he deserved. Harry, in on the secret, could not criticize the Alpha of the pack. Especially since he knew that he was only doing what came naturally to him.

From what the others were thinking about what they have seen in Sam's mind, it seems that his guilt keeps him from doing some version of the right thing and telling Leah that he no longer likes her. Instead, he still professes to love her, but despite their years together and the promises he made, he just loves Emily more. What he can't tell Leah is that his bond with her transcends love in any sense of the human word. They are bound for life.

I left Carlisle before I had a chance to tell him about this thing or even ask if I could tell Bella about it. Since she plans on spending time with Leah, I don't think that it would be a good idea. Bella has a deep belief in justice and if Leah told her about her Sam situation in any detail, Bella might be inclined to express her outrage.

No, it's better if Bella doesn't know about this particular "pack soap opera." I am still trying to sort through all the nuances of the pack mind myself. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have five other voices and their thoughts in your mind at the same time. But if I ever run into the six-man pack, I will certainly get the chance.

When I reach the house, I look up and see Bella watching for me out her bedroom window. She steps back so that I can scale the wall and slip in the open window. The minute that I have her in my arms, all thoughts of the wolves leave my mind. It is late. Bella is ready for bed, and in know that she will be asleep soon.

"It's time for you to be in bed," I say quietly. "Charlie is already asleep."

"Yeah, I know," she replies. "He loved his dinner. He even ate the salad. Then he turned in early. It's great to see him really trying to obey the doctor's orders."

"Well, that's good," I reply. "After he takes off the first ten pounds or so, I think that he's going to start to feel a difference in his health. Usually, if someone can get that far, it is an incentive to keep going."

"That's encouraging," she says, yawning. "I need to get to sleep myself."

We go to bed in our usual position of her wrapped in her comforter, curled up in my arms. After we settle in, she still doesn't fully relax.

"What is it, love?" I ask. "Are you still worrying about our meeting?"

"Not as much as I was," she replies. "Esme talked it out with me and she convinced me that I didn't totally blow it. And Alice can't see anything because who knows what crazy thing I'll say next?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I say. "But if you aren't thinking about that, what are you thinking about?"

"Well," she says hesitantly. "Leah called and asked if she could come over on Sunday to research colleges. I said yes."

"That's fine," I answer, thinking about the opportunity to read her mind. "I'll help if you want."

"Well, it's not just Leah who will be coming," she says nervously. "Jacob is going to drive her because she doesn't have a car."

She closes her eyes and waits for my response.

"That's not a big deal," I say. "As you've pointed out, I have no reason to be jealous of him. And it sounds like he has gotten over his crush on you."

"Oh, he has," she says. "In fact, he told Leah that he plans to watch football with Charlie. He has no interest in college. He wants to be some kind of car technician."

"Considering what you've told me of his mechanical skills, it sounds like a good prospective career for someone who doesn't want to go to university," I reply. "And it's not a job that you can ship to the Far East."

"That's what Leah said," she replies. "But I'm figuring that you won't want to be in the house with the wolf smell."

"And the vampire smell would be very uncomfortable for him," I agree, although I really don't care if it bothers him or not. "I can always find something to do. Besides, it will make Charlie happy."

"Yes, it will," she replies. "I think that I'm ready to sleep. I was worried that you might be upset about Jacob."

"I would be more upset about Billy," I say. "But Jacob is harmless. Sleep well, love."

She snuggles in and before I know it, she is sleeping deeply. I ponder Jacob and am very grateful that when he saw Bella last night, he didn't imprint (or try to) on her. Since he didn't and he's made this "vow" to stay away from girls so that there won't be another Leah, I trust him. And despite the fact that he is a young wolf, it sounds like he is really settling down.

Like Sam, he has more maturity than "the average wolf," so to speak. I am glad to see that now that he is past the early wolf stage of instability, the finer qualities that I perceived in him before are reemerging. I am still sorry that he is a wolf. Despite the fact that he has accepted that Bella is not his girl; it is still his natural inclination to me to hate me. Oddly, I don't feel the same way, but my _raison d'__ê__tre _is not to destroy werewolves.

However, having both Leah and Jacob in the house is a opportunity too good for me to miss. I intend to hang out in the woods, far enough away that Jacob can't smell me, so that I can listen in on their thoughts. I am a little ashamed to admit, that it's not about gathering intelligence. I would just like to get a glimpse of this wolf drama from another perspective.

_Author's Note: School has started up and my new crop of students requires more of my attention. I have set myself a goal of one chapter a week. If I have time for more, than I will write one. But I prefer to take my time with this. I have a lot of ideas about how I want to spin this yarn. _

_Feedback is always appreciated. And yes, I'm going off canon with Paul too. I don't believe that I am going off canon with Emily, because Bella's perception of her in the story was pretty vague and shallow. She only seemed to be able to view her within her relationship to Sam. Have a good week, all of you! I love you all._


	11. Taking Sides

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

_If you are a reader who doesn't like "talking chapters," then you should skip this one. It lays the groundwork for future action, but I wouldn't want to bore you._

**Chapter 11: Taking Sides**

I was surprised by how pleasant the visit was to Harry's house. The best part was that I didn't have to spend much time with Harry and Billy. That was followed at a close second by the fact that Jacob no longer has a crush on me (I think). Anyway, things were totally normal, uncomplicated, and relaxed between us. There were no awkward silences and he had a little fun at my expense due to my usual clumsiness.

Once again, he was teasing me like a little brother and joking with me like an old friend. Aside from the fact, that I knew that this would be good news to Edward, it made me a lot less anxious about running into him. I had always liked Jacob and I didn't like the fact that I could be potentially, if inadvertently, hurting him. It is one less thing to feel guilty about anyway.

The two surprises of the evening were my easy relationships with Sue and Leah. I had never really had much contact with either of them before, mostly because Charlie and I had never visited Harry's house that I could remember. It's a typical La Push house, although somewhat nicer than most. That's probably because, until Harry got sick, he was able to earn a small paycheck in addition to Sue's wages as a nurse.

The house is in good repair, with three bedrooms, a nice sized living room, and a nicer kitchen than we had at Charlie's. I suspect that finances are tight now because Sue was no longer able to work full-time because taking care of Harry was almost a full-time job. But no one is complaining. Despite the fact that she might scold him for not taking care of himself now, she never reproached him (that I heard) for putting himself in this position to begin with.

Sue was easy to talk to, and before I knew it, I was telling her the story of how I ended up in the "sanatorium" in British Columbia. I guess because I had told that story so many times before, it came out easily and naturally. That was a very good thing because Sue is a very sharp woman. I am pretty sure that she would be able to sniff out any lie right away.

I was happy that she approved of my choice to marry young, even though it didn't really matter. After months of having to justify myself to everyone around me, it was nice to hear someone affirm my decision. And Sue was definitely a person whose opinion I respected. More than once, I found myself wishing that someone like her was my mother.

It's not that I don't love Esme as much as before, but she had always seemed to be an ideal mother to me. There is nothing about Sue's personality that screams perfection and serenity to me. Sue is a "tough broad," to use Charlie's terminology. But she's not abrasive. She has had to spend her life scrapping for everything that she's gotten. And no one would ever say that her life has been easy. She manages adversity in a graceful way and never feels sorry for herself.

Leah's turn around where I am concerned was the biggest surprise of all. After talking with Leah for a few minutes, you can see that she has more in common with Sue than long, black hair, enormous brown eyes, and incredible bone structure. Her initial reaction to meeting me was stony silence and a hard stare. Luckily, she didn't stay with us for long.

As soon as she could, she stalked off somewhere. Jacob looked at her as she left the room and rolled his eyes. Once Seth went upstairs to do his work, Jacob followed her outside. It didn't take me long to figure out that she didn't hold any personal grudges against me. She was completely discontented with life itself. Leah's challenges in life have also hardened her. But her greatest trials have neither been financial nor concern for her father's health.

Sam was Leah's boyfriend before he dumped her for her cousin Emily. From what I was able to discern, Sam and Leah were very close to getting engaged when the break up took place. Sue told me that she and Leah didn't understand it at. It was then that I figured out that Leah's initial coldness came from the fact that she was jealous because I had a fiancé, it didn't matter who it was, and she didn't.

But she certainly perked up when I offered to help her look for a suitable college and a way to pay for it. In fact, I was moved by how desperate she seemed to be to get out of La Push into the white man's world. Not only Leah, but Sue also pounced on the idea. It seemed to be little enough that I could do to repay Sue for her support. I discussed the whole thing with Edward, and he had no problem with my plan for Leah and Jacob to come over on Sunday.

By the time that Sunday morning rolls around, we have finished discussing the whole pre-marital counseling episode. Edward reviewed all of Dr. Weber's thoughts with me. While I am not happy that he formed those conclusions, I could also see a kernel of truth in them. However, Carlisle explained to me that the advantage in knowing this, was that I could really think about how I began expressing myself to him.

My determination to prove my bottomless pit of love for Edward had really projected a kind of infatuation. I was a much stronger person than I had presented. But I should not completely close myself off to personal counseling. It would be valuable for me to sit down and hash out some of my past issues with Charlie and Renee with an objective third party.

In doing so, I wouldn't have to talk about anything other than the truth. Since my relationship with Edward had nothing to do with my family stresses, there wouldn't be any need to go anywhere near the whole vampire issue. And then of course, the records from my "sanatorium" would reflect this and recommend further discussion of my present relationships with my parents.

As for the medication, we can simply say that when I left I had a one month's supply. It will be a simple enough matter to accept a prescription from the psychiatrist and then not fill it. As usual, I have "catastrophized" the entire situation. I am going to have to get used to running into situations where deception and withholding the entire truth are necessary if I expect to interact with the human world after I become a vampire.

The fact is, that if I can get through discussing the issues I have with both my parents and show that I am coming to grips with them, I should be okay. And where Edward is concerned I need to worry less about proving how much I love him and more about demonstrating that I am a mature young woman capable of making an important life-changing decision.

That is also what I need to discuss with Dr. Weber. The nerves are to be expected, but I also have to disabuse him of the notion that I am emotionally needy and that my experience with my parents has not been as bad as he imagines. In fact, it has actually made me more mature than the average teenage girl.

As for Dr. Weber looking at any medical files, I am under no obligation to sign anything to that effect. As long as my local therapist has access, that will have to be good enough for him. And that is why the HIPAA laws exist. It is my choice whether to grant access to any of my medical files to anyone else. Carlisle thinks that Dr. Weber may be a little over-zealous in his role as counselor, but he clearly means well.

After church, we speak with him, exchanging the usual pleasantries. Afterward, Edward tells me that he was thinking that I looked very well. He also thought that we made a nice couple. However, his mind was mostly occupied by his second Sunday service, so he didn't have much room for thoughts about us. Following the service, the Cullens drop me off at home.

Edward told me that while Leah and Jacob were there, he was going to be hanging out in the woods a couple of miles away to see if he can't get any more intelligence of where the wolves are presently at with regard to them. He is showing absolutely no anxiety about the whole thing. I guess that he has figured out that Jacob has enough control over his emotions not to phase in Charlie's living room.

After lunch, Charlie settles in his favorite chair to watch the Seahawks play the Giants. I go upstairs to open my computer up to the college board website. Just as it is uploading, I hear the bell ring. By the time I get downstairs, Charlie already has the door open for Jacob and Leah.

"Hey, you two!" he says cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," Jacob replies.

"My Mom sent over some snacks," Leah says smirking. "Don't get too excited, it's a raw vegetable platter with a low fat onion dip. The dip is pretty good actually. Dad eats it without complaining."

"Well, if Harry eats it, then I guess I can," Charlie says compliantly. "I hope that you brought your own junk food, Jake. Bella won't let me have any of it in the house anymore."

"Thanks okay, Charlie," Jacob says. "Sue made me promise not to torture you by bringing over lots of food and soda that you can't have."

"It sounds like Sue runs a pretty tight ship," I comment as I reach the bottom of the steps.

"You don't mess with my Mom," Leah agrees with a little smile. "Hi, Bella. Did you have a good week at school?"

"Yes, I did," I reply. "And you?"

"Pretty good," she says. "I can't wait to graduate."

"I know what you mean," I answer.

"Hi, Bells!" Jacob says. "How's it going?"

"Very well," I answer. "How is the Rabbit?"

"Almost there," he says. "We came over in the truck."

"I don't know how you drove that thing for a year," Leah says shaking her head. "I'm not sure that I could even turn the steering wheel."

"You've got to build up your muscles!" I reply grinning at Jacob. "The crank windows are a workout too."

"That's just because you girls are weaklings!" Jacob teases.

"Well, that's all fine and good," grumbles Charlie. "But I don't want to miss kickoff."

"Sure, Dad," I answer, and lead Leah upstairs to my room.

When we get inside, I can see her looking around. Even though it's the same dumpy little room as before, my bed set brightens it up. Nothing else is different except the Bose and the laptop. I even straightened it up in honor of her visit. She looks around, but unlike Rosalie would have done, she seems to be impressed.

"That's a really cool comforter set," she says. "Where did you get it?"

"Esme Cullen designed and made it for me as a birthday gift," I say. "She's a kind of designer and artist. And she likes to sew."

Leah picks it up and examines the handiwork.

"Mom sews too, but she couldn't match this work," she says. "But then again, she doesn't have these kinds of quality materials to work with."

She makes her last comment without rancor. She simply accepts the fact that the Cullens have more money than her family does. But that's probably true of most of the whites in the area compared with the Quileutes, not to mention all the other families in the area compared with the Cullens. She touches the Bose almost reverently.

"That was a birthday gift from Edward's sister," I say answering her unasked question. "And Edward's father gave me the iPhone. But he said that was a gift for the family because Edward was driving them crazy whenever he couldn't reach me. I've never had a cell phone before, so this is a real treat."

"A little overprotective?" she asks drily. "Edward, that is."

"You could say that," I answer, cautiously because of her Sam thing. "But Charlie is happy because now Renee calls me directly instead of going through him. They, um, don't really get along too well."

"My Mom told me about Renee," Leah replies. "The phrase that she used was 'nut job.' But she and Dad have spent the last eighteen years trying to help Charlie get over her and the fact that she walked out with you when you were a baby, so that may have influenced her opinion. I don't remember that of course, but since I was a kid, I've overheard him talking to them about her latest crazy ideas often enough."

"Renee is definitely full of crazy ideas," I agree. "Luckily, none if them ever last very long. She has a short attention span."

"Maybe she has adult ADHD," she suggests drily. "I bet a dose of Ritalin a day would help her settle down."

"Maybe," I reply. "Except that she would probably forget to take it."

We both laugh. Leah is a more interesting companion than Angela. Angela is very sweet, but Leah has that dry, sarcastic wit that I appreciate.

"So what did Eddy get for you for your birthday?" she asks.

"Eddy?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't know that," she says. "That's what Dad and Billy call him, only it's usually 'Eddy boy.'"

"Oh, I'll have to tell him that," I answers trying not to laugh at the thought of Edward overhearing it. "But he gave me the necklace."

"It's very pretty," she says quietly, her tone changing to wistful. "So is the ring."

"Yes, they are," I answer, tempering my usual enthusiasm and pride in them to match her sudden mood swing. "He inherited them from his Mom after she passed away."

"Oh," she says. "That's right, he's adopted. He looks so much like his parents that it's kind of easy to forget that. Was she one too?"

"One what?" I ask trying to control my panic.

"You know, an albino," she says.

I breathe a sigh of relief. An albino? I have a feeling that Leah doesn't know much about albinos if she thinks that is what the Cullens are. Albinos do have very fair skin, but their eyes are pink, not gold or black. And their hair is very fair, almost white. All of the Cullens have dark hair. Even the blondes, Jasper and Rosalie have rich, golden tones. But it is an interesting explanation, since albinos don't go out in the sun either.

"The Cullens aren't albinos," I say slowly.

"But they're so pale," Leah answers with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Well, yeah," I say. "But they all have pretty dark hair. And their eyes are unusual, you know, light brown. In fact sometimes they look almost golden. But I'm really pale too and I'm not an albino."

"You are very pale," she agrees. "And you have brown eyes and very dark hair. But you don't look like them. I mean, their skin is really _white._"

"Of course not," I say. "They are all beautiful."

"You could say that, I guess," she comments. "I prefer people to have a darker skin tone. Someone like Jacob has beautiful skin. It has a reddish look to it. I guess you could call it a racial bias thing. But I don't have anything against them. Everyone says they're really nice. And Mom thinks that Dr. Cullen saved my Dad's life. He's helped us out a lot."

"The Cullens help everyone out," I agree. "That's just the kind of people they are."

"Well, then you must fit in just fine," she says. "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you're helping me."

"Well, that's why you're here," I say cheerfully, turning to the computer and tapping the track pad to wake it up.

I sit down and set it on my bed, while she flops down next to me, and drags a two-liter bottle of Coke and a giant bag of chips out of her oversized bag. I look at her and raise my eyebrows. She grins back at me mischievously.

"I'm not the one on a diet," she says almost scornfully. "And I'm always starving. I was able to sneak these into my bag and out of the house before my Mom even knew that I had them. Seth and I are always sneaking junk food around. He's growing like nothing I've ever seen, except for maybe Jake last summer. It's the only thing that he ever does that even qualifies as disobedient."

"It sounded the other night like Seth was the perfect son," I remark.

"Seth is the son, period," she says flipping her gorgeous hair back. "I'm the rebel. I'm the loser who couldn't even hang onto her boyfriend. And now I'm determined to be the who gets out of La Push for good and goes to college, like Rachel did."

"Jacob's sister?" I ask.

"The same," she says. "Billy thinks that she stays away at college all the time because she misses her Mom so much. But the last time she was home I talked to her. She said that she wants to live a better life off the res. She wants to have a career not lots of babies. When she graduates in June with her degree in computers, she's going to get a job in Seattle or Portland. And if she makes it big, she'll send money home to Billy. Then maybe he will forgive her abandoning her heritage."

"That's good of her," I say fumbling over my words. "For thinking of him like that. I mean about the money."

"Good of her nothing!" she shoots back. "It's guilt money. The Elders think that college is great as long as you come back to the res and serve the needs of the tribe. But in the absence of that, a share of your paycheck is acceptable."

"Oh," I say. "Um, isn't that a little old-fashioned?"

"The whole Council is still living in the eighteenth or nineteenth century with their hocus pocus and crazy ghost stories that they call 'histories,'" she says flippantly. "What a lot of bull! Spirit warriors and cold ones! Werewolves and demons! It's kind of funny how they like totally believe it. Sam used to laugh at them too, until he suddenly crossed over to the dark side."

"The dark side?" I ask. "As in devils and monsters?"

"No, maybe that's the wrong way of saying it," she says. "I mean more like the superstitious dark side. You know, ignorance."

"So Sam believes all that stuff too?" I ask casually, because I know that it is Sam, not Leah, who knows the truth behind the legends.

"Yeah, it was right before he dumped me, that he started to get weird about that kind of stuff," she replies. "I was pissed at him when he decided not to go to college, because I thought that he want to break out of 'Camp Quileute' as much as I did. And the council was totally behind him. That's after they treated Rebecca like a traitor for ditching college to get married."

"I think Charlie told me that she and her surfer dude husband moved to Hawaii," I reply.

"Surfer dude!" she laughs. "That's a good way to describe him. No, I think that it was more a matter of her moving out to Hawaii and out from under their clutches."

"Um, no offense, Leah," I say. "But you seem to be just a little bitter about the whole tribe thing."

"Really?" she asks sarcastically, but then likes contrite. "I'm sorry, but I have a tendency to take out my bad mood on everyone. I know that you understand because if Eddy dumped you, you would feel just as bad."

"Maybe worse," I answer thinking of my nightmare. "But I doubt that I would be bitter. Knowing myself, I would probably just curl up in a ball and wish I was dead."

"Honey," Leah says. "Let me give you a little advice. No guy is worth going all emo on, not even Eddy. And don't you think that your father would feel bad for you? My Dad doesn't feel bad at all. Sam is like the perfect Quileute in his eyes. Sometimes I think that he cares more about Sam and Emily than he does about me."

"That can't be true," I say in surprise.

"Oh, yeah?" she says. "Well, Jacob told me the other night that I should blow off Emily's request that I be a bridesmaid in the wedding party. He said that it was my right to choose, and why should I have to suffer to make her happy? He was even pretty pissed that Em would rub salt in the wound like that. So the next day, I called her up and told her that I was unavailable to be a bridesmaid. She got all upset and went running off to Sam."

"It sounds like Jake is getting smart on his old age," I remark. "What did Sam do?"

"He went to Dad, who came to me," she replies. "I told him, my Dad that is, that after Emily stole my boyfriend she had no right to ask me to be at the wedding, let alone in it, dressed up in some stupid fancy dress and smiling. Dad told me that I didn't understand. That was when I started screaming at him."

"I bet he didn't like that," I remark, when she stops for a minute to brush the angry tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"He didn't get the chance to answer," she says. "Mom heard us and she backed me up one-hundred percent. She agreed that Emily had a lot of nerve and it was okay with her if I never wanted to speak with her again. Then Dad changed tactics."

"Oh?" I ask.

"Yeah," she replies. "Then _he _started going on about how he would _let _me go to college, but only if I promised to come back to La Push with a degree so that I can help the tribe."

"But you won't," I finish.

"Yeah, right," she says bitterly. "Like I want to spend the rest of my life watching Sam and Emily living in wedded bliss with their children and grandchildren. After Mom and I gave Dad his answer, he went back to Sam. Then Sam, who I guess couldn't bear to see Emily so unhappy, came to me. And do you know what he said?"

"No," I reply not really wanting to know but also realizing that she needed to get the whole thing off her chest.

"He said that he still loved me," she replies. "But the whole thing with Emily was destiny or some crap like that had thrown them together. He never meant to hurt me. Can you believe that?"

"Well, no," I admit. "I can't. Maybe it's a tribal legend thing. No offense, Leah, but some of that stuff sounds pretty bizarre."

"Tell me about it," she replies with an eye roll. "But that's why I have to get out and have my own life. All these fairy tales make my head hurt. I want to get out and never look back."

"What about your family?" I ask, feeling guilty because I was only months away from ditching my family and friends to join Edward in his life.

"Hey!" she says. "If I get through college and get a good job, I'll send money home to my folks. But I'm not _coming_ back. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in poverty and superstition because that's the way that the Quileutes have always done it."

"But, um, I thought that before you were going to marry Sam," I say fearfully. "Wouldn't that have kept you at La Push? I mean, that's what would have happened if Emily hadn't come along."

"Don't be scared to say it, Bella," she says. "Would I have stayed on the res just to be with Sam? Yeah, I loved him that much. In fact I still do. If Eddy dumped you, wouldn't you go running back if he called you? I thought so. But I don't think that he'd dump you anyway. Jacob told me that he never saw anyone in love with anyone else the way that Eddy loves you.

"But that wouldn't have happened anyway. We would not have been trapped in La Push. Sam was going to get out too. But he gave it up to become a protector of the tribe. Now the Council totally loves him. He can do no wrong. Even my own father thought that it was great when he fell in love with Emily."

"Well," I reply, not wanting the conversation to go any farther. "Let's see what schools look good to you."

I can tell that we are about to circle around from where we had started and I don't want Leah to have to go through that again. She is clearly upset, so the only thing that I can think to do is distract her by showing her an alternative future. She needs to see that she has a way of escaping from all her pain. I think of how lucky she is to have Sue on her side. But I can't understand her father at all. What kind of a man treats his daughter like that?

So I take her to the same survey that I filled about interests, geographical preferences, grades, racial-identity (optional, but I knew that it would help her find a school). She had never dreamed of anything more than the local community college, but I encourage her to reach higher. Her grades aren't bad; mostly B's, and her SATs are also pretty good.

Once we have a list of schools to work with, we begin to check out websites. Luckily, the ones that interest her, the most have rolling admissions, which means that she can still apply and hear back in six weeks. Unfortunately for her, these are not common app schools, but we download the applications. She looks at the stack and grimaces.

"That's a lot of writing," she says. "And application fees."

"All you really need is one essay," I say. "They all pretty much ask the same questions. If we do it on the computer then you won't have to write each one from scratch. And I didn't have to pay any application fees. My parents aren't rich either, so I answered a few questions and they waived the fees."

"Okay," she says. "But I don't know where to begin with the essay."

"Well, when I wrote mine, Edward told me to start with the things that they couldn't already learn from the rest of the application, like my grades and extra curricular activities, not that I have any. But you probably have some interesting things about you that are unique."

"Yeah, right," she says. "I'm sure that there aren't too many Native Americans out there begging for money to go to school. Maybe I could write about how my people are descended from wolves who kill vampires. Then after they finish laughing, they can throw them in the circular file."

"That wasn't what I was thinking about," I say, ignoring her harsh tone. "Yes, you're Native American, but you will also be the first on your family to go to college. And you told me that you help your Mom when she goes out to help other people in the tribe when they get sick. And you go hunting and fishing with your father to help feed the family. You might view that as boring and commonplace where you live, but not to the outside world."

"I guess so," she says. "I've never looked at it that way. But my Mom went to college."

"She went to nursing school," I say thoughtfully. "But is she an RN?"

"No," she says. "She went to Peninsula and got an associates degree in practical nursing. A four-year college wouldn't have been practical. So she never had the opportunity."

"They need to know that," I reply. "It is important for them to know that you want an opportunity that was out of reach for your mother."

"If you say so," she shrugs.

"Another thing," I continue. "Is that all of this says that you are not afraid of hard work, taking on responsibility, and helping other people. That shows that you have strong character."

She sits quietly looking out the window.

"I guess that writing my essay won't be so hard," she admits. "It sounds like all I have to do is write about normal stuff."

"That's about it," I say. "And remember that normal for you isn't normal for most of the other kids applying."

Suddenly, we are interrupted by Jacob thumping in with his big feet. He stands in the doorway with his arms crossed and a funny look on his face.

"How's the search going?" he asks somewhat sardonically. "Have you figured out how to get her into Harvard, yet?"

"Shut up, idiot!" Leah replies. "Why aren't you watching the game?"

"It's over," he says. "We got creamed. Don't you know what time it is?"

I look on the screen and realize that it's almost six. The whole afternoon has just flown by quickly.

"Oh, crap!" I say. "I have to get Charlie's dinner."

"Don't worry," he says. "He ate all the rabbit food. He can't possibly be hungry."

"Wanna bet?" I ask.

"We've got to get home too," Leah says.

"Cheating?" Jacob asks, picking up the empty bottle and chip bag.

"What is it to you?" she shoots back. "At least you don't have to live on squirrel food, like I do."

"No, I don't," he says. "But if I had known that you smuggled in some contraband, I would have come up sooner."

"I'm glad you didn't," she answers, grabbing her papers. "Thanks a lot, Bella. I really appreciate the help."

"Call me up when you finish your essay," I reply. "In fact, if you have any questions at all, give me a call. Don't you have a college counselor at your school?"

"You could call him that," Leah answers. "But he's just another idiot. He thinks that we should all go to trade school."

"Sounds like mine," I say.

The three of us go downstairs where Charlie is waiting.

"Mission accomplished, gang?" he asks. "Feel free to come over anytime, you two."

"Okay," Jacob says. "I will. Hey, Bells! Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

"Sure," I say uncertainly as Leah smirks at him.

We walk outside to the truck, while Charlie and Leah stand in the living room talking about Harry. When we get to the driver's side, Jacob gives me a cheeky grin.

"I have a feeling that you know my secret," he says playfully.

"Um, uh, I don't know what you're talking about," I reply, trying to play dumb.

"You so suck at lying, Bella," he says. "I don't even know why you bother to try. Anyway, since you know my secret and you're keeping it, I'll keep your secret."

"What makes you think I have a secret?" I ask.

"C'mon, Bells!" he says shaking his head. "Your bedroom reeks of him. I don't think that Charlie has any idea of how much time he spends up there to make it stink so bad. Anyway, just so you know, I won't spill the beans."

I turn bright red, wondering if Edward is watching me through Jacob's eyes. Then I wonder if he is annoyed or relieved by Jacob's discovery and his promise. Either way, he's probably laughing at _me._

"Well," I finally say. "Even if I did know your secret, whatever that is, I wouldn't t tell anyone, just for old time's sake."

"That's pretty decent of you," he answers. "I won't tell your secret because I have a feeling that if I do, you will out me to Charlie."

Leah comes out and looks at my flushed face.

"So Jacob," she says. "How have you embarrassed Bella? Have you been pledging your undying love?"

"Shut up, Leah," he says casually. "Let's just say that it was a confidential discussion between two old friends."

"I didn't know that Jacob was interested in me," I say innocently. "He's like my little brother that I never had."

"Do you know how badly you suck at lying?" she asks me.

Leah looks back forth between Jacob and me. Now it's his turn to look red, while I look poised. _This _is one thing that I have practiced and thought about since I first learned about Jacob's crush back in September. And she has no idea of how many lies I just told her about Edward and his family. But before she can say anything else, Charlie comes out.

"Leah," he says. "Your Mom just called and she wants you two home pronto. Just be sure you drive within the speed limit! Got that, Jacob?"

"Yes, sir," he says meekly, but then winks at me as soon as he turns his back.

As they pull away, the truck backfires loudly and a couple of dogs up the street start barking. Charlie rolls his eyes.

"I'm sure glad that you don't drive that thing anymore," he says. "What's for dinner?"

"Vegetarian lasagna," I reply. "But before you get too excited, I've made it with gluten-free pasta and low-fat cheese."

"And a salad," he says. "I know. But come on! I've been a good boy for the last two weeks. You don't have to get all snarky on me."

"Snarky?" I say. "Where did you pick that expression up?"

"From Jacob," he admits. "He was hoping that Leah would behave herself around you."

"Leah and I get along just fine," I say. "Why would he think that she would, um, misbehave?"

"Well, she's had a pretty short fuse lately," he says. "A couple of times she's really laid into Harry when he's gone off his diet. And she got into some big fight with Emily and Sam about the wedding."

"Well, if I were her, I would have gotten into a fight with Emily a long time ago," I answer smartly. "Leah was supposed to be the one marrying Sam. But he fell in love with Emily at first sight. Now it doesn't help that Emily wants her to be a bridesmaid. But she said no. I wonder how much trouble Jacob is in for enlightening her."

"Good for him, and her," Charlie says. "Who is this Emily anyway? I never heard of her until she started dating Sam after the bear attack."

"Emily and Leah are cousins," I explain. "She's a Makah. They used to be best friends. Now they hardly speak to each other. That's part of the reason why she wants to get out of La Push so badly."

"Well, I guess I understand why Leah has been hell to live with these past few months," he says. "But I don't want to keep you from making dinner."

"Oh, no!" I say with mock drama. "Never that!"

We drop the subject of the Quileutes for the rest of the night. Charlie admits that the food is good and then goes back to the TV to watch Sunday Night Football. I suppose that should bother me, but I'm anxious to go upstairs and find out from Edward what Jacob was thinking while he was here. I plod up the stairs. After all the stress of maintaining the deception, I am exhausted. And naturally the love of my life is waiting for me, lying on my bed with his hands behind his head.

"Hey, love!" he greets me as I leap up next to him for my kiss. "You seemed to enjoy yourself this afternoon."

"I did," I answer. "But what about you? Did you learn anything interesting from Jacob?"

"I learned a few interesting things from both Leah and Jacob," he replies. "But why don't you get your evening routine out of the way before we start talking?"

No amount of pleading would get him to say anything, so I go off to take my shower and get ready for bed. I feel grumpy because I don't want to wait and it's still pretty early. I rush through my shower, blow-drying my hair, and teeth brushing. Then after a quick goodnight to an indifferent Charlie, I go back to my room.

Charlie gets annoyed if I don't wait until a commercial break to say goodnight, but tonight I'm not in the mood for accommodating him. Bursting with curiosity, I run back upstairs, more energetically before, and take my place on the bed next to Edward again.

"So what's up with Jacob?" I ask. "Is he still pining for me?"

"I hate to disappointment, Bella," he replies smirking. "But he hardly thought about you at all. It seems that in addition to driving Leah over, he was on a reconnaissance mission for Sue. She wanted to make sure that Charlie was really behaving himself with the whole diet and exercise thing."

"So then what did you find out?" I ask, relieved that Jacob really was "over" me.

"Pretty much the same thing that you did, right before he left," he says. "The minute he got up to your room, my scent nearly knocked him over. In fact, it was all that he could do to control himself in front of Leah."

"Oh yeah," I say. "The thing about the secret. So is he really going to keep his mouth shut to Charlie?"

"Yes, he is," he answers seriously. "He knows all about your impulsiveness and how easily you lose your temper. You didn't fool him for a minute when you said that you didn't know about the whole werewolf thing."

"Was he thinking about the other wolves at all?" I ask really disappointed.

Edward looks at me sharply. Then he gets a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, since Leah was upstairs, he was thinking about Sam," he finally says. "And how unfair it is that he tossed her aside for Emily. But to him that's not the worst. He understands why Sam fell in love with Emily in a way that Leah never will."

"Why not?" I ask. "Why doesn't he just tell her if Sam won't?"

"It's a wolf thing," he replies. "And that's his phrase, not mine. You see, when the young men, or in this case boys, first phase, they lose a certain degree of control over who they fall in love with and eventually mate with."

"I don't get it," I say.

"I do," he says. "But only because I've seen the thoughts in the wolves' minds. I wasn't sure that I was going to tell you. You have to promise me that you will never tell anyone what I am going to tell you. No one outside of the Council of Elders and the wolves know it. It would open up a whole can of worms regarding how you found out. The _only _reason that I know is that I can read their thoughts."

"Have you told anyone else?" I ask.

"Only Carlisle," he says. "Carlisle doesn't want any of the others to know. But I insisted on telling you, because I didn't want to have to withhold any secrets from you. But the person that you really can't tell is Leah, no matter how sympathetic you are to her."

"Why not?"

"Right now she is very sympathetic to you and me," he replies. "I can just about guarantee that she would hate the Cullens as much as the wolves do if she found out."

"Okay," I say. "I can handle that."

He looks at me again for a long moment. In fact, he seems to be uncertain about telling me even now that he's brought it up. But he finally decides and begins.

"There is an aspect of the wolves' emotional nature that is the way that they find their mates, for lack of a better word," he explains. "When the wolf first sees 'her,' meaning the girl, after he first phases, it happens. He sees her and it is as if no one else in the world exists for him. The girl becomes the object of his admiration and slavish devotion. She is everything to him. He no longer belongs to himself. He belongs to her. He can't live without her."

"So when Sam first saw Leah," I say slowly. "He didn't 'imprint.'"

"No, but he and the council didn't think much of it," he answers. "Apparently, imprinting is pretty uncommon. In fact, none of the three wolves in the last generation imprinted. It skewed their perception of how frequently it might have occurred in the past. Anyway, Sam knew that he hadn't imprinted on Leah, but he still loved her as much as he had before.

"There was tension between them because she wasn't in on the secret. He was away for hours at a time, sometimes days. And in his wolf form, he obviously couldn't communicate with her. She was worried about things before he met Emily, but once he saw her and imprinted, it confirmed her suspicions about his loyalty, or lack thereof."

"You got all this from Jacob?" I ask. "I thought that you said that he wasn't thinking about the wolves."

"I've actually known about it for a couple of weeks now," he admits. "But Leah was thinking about the other side of it, her side, this afternoon. I could see from your face that you were sympathetic to her plight. For the record, Jacob and Paul are too."

"Paul?" I ask. "That doesn't seem very much in character for him. What about Jared?"

"Jared has imprinted also, but at least the girl he imprinted on was an old school friend who had a secret crush on him," he replies. "And he didn't have another girlfriend. Paul may be a jerk, but he has a innate sense of justice. He has sworn not to date any girl he knows. He doesn't want to create another Leah if he should imprint later. And for the record, Jacob has also, sworn off dating too."

"Is that why he gave up on me?" I ask.

"Only partly," he replies. "He had kind of thought that he was out of your league anyway. This provided him with what you might call a virtuous excuse for letting go of his childhood infatuation for good. He knew that he hadn't imprinted on you the minute he saw you at Harry's house. It's a great relief to me."

"Would it have been bad?" I ask bleakly.

"Very bad," he confirms. "Since you are my true mate in the vampire world, if he had imprinted on you, it would have been a fight to the death for both of us. The pack and the coven would also have been brought in. We may have ended up slaughtering each other."

I shiver at the thought, grateful that this horror had not come to pass.

"Okay, so Sam has dumped Leah for her cousin," I say. "Why doesn't she just let go?"

"He's the one that won't let go," Edward replies. "He feels guilty as hell about what he did to Leah. He had made hundreds of promises to her. He had made love to her, well, a lot. Even as she was sitting with you at the computer trying to focus on a future away from La Push, he was still in the back of her mind. She hasn't given up hope."

"Why doesn't Sam just tell her that he hates her or something?" I ask. "Wouldn't that make it easier for her?"

"From what I have discerned of Sam's thoughts in the minds of the others, it goes against his nature to be that kind of cad, for lack of a better word," he replies. "I did a much better job last year when I tried to warn you off of me. But I couldn't. The bond between us was too strong. You felt it, even though you didn't understand what it was. From what I can tell, that is how it is for the imprints too."

"Then why doesn't Emily try to . . . I don't know, chase Leah off?" I ask. "Or she should at least let her off the hook with the whole bridesmaids thing."

"Without access to Emily's thoughts, I can't tell you that," he replies. "But the scratches on Emily's face weren't caused by a bear. Sam did it when she rejected him on Leah's account and made him angry. It's one of the reasons why I was so adamant about you staying away from the wolves. When they get angry, they have no control. They can phase in an instant."

"Would that have happened to me if Jacob had imprinted?" I ask.

"I doubted it since you were going to be seeing him again, or rather he would be seeing you, with so many witnesses," he says. "And once I knew he hadn't imprinted, I saw no reason to keep you away from him. Although now that I have had access to his thoughts, I know that I have no reason to be jealous.

"The other night, Leah confided her true feelings about the situation from her perspective to him. That just confirmed what he had thought before. Like Paul, he doesn't want to create any more Leahs in the tribe. My initial reaction to Jacob had been that he was a very good kids sterling character. I am glad to see that I was right."

"But doesn't this create a rift in the pack?" I ask.

"It does," he says. "And that is better for us. While this wolf soap opera is going on, it keeps them occupied."

"Oh," I say. "But why would it make Leah hate you if she knew the truth?"

"The truth is that if we weren't in Forks, there wouldn't be any wolves at La Push," he says a little regretfully. "If there are no wolves, there would be no imprinting."

"I still wish I could explain it to Leah," I sigh.

"It wouldn't serve any purpose," he says. "There is nothing to gainful her knowing because it wouldn't change anything. The best thing that you can do for Leah is to help her find a good college and the means to go there. She intuitively knows that there is a much larger world out there than the reservation. She needs to get out there to find her own happiness."

"From what Charlie has said about her, I didn't expect her to be so nice," I reply.

"She's not a bad person at all," he says. "In fact, when she was happy, she was a great daughter. All of this mess has made her angry and bitter."

"Just out of curiosity," I ask. "Do you know why the wolves imprint?"

"Even the wolves don't know why they imprint," Edward answers with a smile. "They have a couple of theories. One is that they imprint on girls who will be able to breed a stronger wolves with them. The other is that they need to preserve the bloodlines."

"Ew," I say making a face. "You make them sound like pure-bred dogs or horses or something."

"They are part-animal," he says. "And it is all instinct. But you're right. It does sound a little clinical."

"Okay," I say. "But now I really don't get it."

"What?" he asks.

"Well, you would think that Leah would have a stronger bloodline than Emily," I say. "I mean, Emily isn't even a full Quileute, she's part Makah. And Leah's father is a tribal Elder."

"And her mother has a very strong lineage back to the original wolf," he replies. "Actually, Jacob was thinking about that too. It's another piece of the puzzle that still doesn't quite fit together."

"Like Emily wanting Leah to be in the wedding," I say.

"Exactly like that," he says. "But it's getting late and when you came up before, it looked like you were pretty tired."

"Oh well," I say. "I guess that I really need to sleep. I have a math test and history quiz tomorrow."

"Shall I sing you to sleep?" he asks.

The sound of his voice helps to relax me and put aside thoughts of Leah, Sam, and Jacob. Knowing that it's safe to be friends with Jacob again really makes me feel better. I wonder if he will imprint someday. If he does, I just hope that she's a nice girl. I still feel bad for Leah. It's too bad that Sam didn't imprint on her before he ever met Emily.


	12. Condemnation

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

_Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been very busy with the beginning of the school year. I will do my best to update once a week, but it won't always work. All that I can do is promise that I won't be giving up on the story._

**Chapter 12: Condemnation**

I loved the look on Bella's face when I told her that I would keep her secret.She looked completely shocked that I had known anything about it, although considering her closeness to Edward she must have known everything about the secrets at La Push. But just as Bella sucks at lying, she is pretty bad at concealing her emotions with any kind of poker face.

But I was also careful to include the point of expecting her to keep _my _secret just as I kept hers. If I ever let on to her dad that Edward was spending lots of time upstairs in her bedroom, I would be toast. Charlie might laugh at me if I told him that the Cullens were vampires, but he wouldn't be at all reluctant to believe that Edward and Bella were sleeping together.

Since they are engaged, he probably _thinks _so already. But there is a big different between thinking so and knowing so. I have read Harry's suspicions regarding Sam and Leah in Sam's mind. He would have been a lot better off, if he hadn't insisted that Sam tell him the truth. In one of his arguments over Sam's change of heart with Sue, she had thrown it up in his face.

He had believed her but didn't want to know it. And while he suspected the reason that Sam dumped his daughter, it had never been stated. This happened before the accident that destroyed Emily's face. Leah was still hurt and angered because she had just learned of Sam's infatuation.

She told told Sue and Sue told Harry. Harry hadn't really taken Sam and Leah's relationship very seriously. He thought that he would be a great husband for her, but he figured that that were so young that they would move on before things ever got that serious. And since Sam had left high school, Harry just figured that he had "outgrown" her. But Leah had shared everything with her mother, so Sue knew every promise that he was breaking to her when he split up with her.

Not knowing anything about the wolves of course, she drew the only conclusion possible. Sam had been using Leah until something better had come along in the form of her cousin Emily. They were both exceptionally beautiful girls, but complete opposites when it came to personality.

Leah was a little spitfire. She was full of life and energy. She had a very deep passion for Sam, which she never withheld from him. But it was underpinned by very genuine feelings of love. She completely believed that they would get engaged when she graduated, and then married.

This same passionate nature meant that when the natural physical attraction that happens between men and women occurred between them, Leah had no problems with following Sam's lead. Sam, though he had always considered himself a very moral person, quickly surrendered to his own desires because he truly believed that they were going to be married in the future.

But seeing Emily changed all that for him. The power of the imprint, over which he had no control, was too forceful. The minute he saw Emily, his whole mind was totally obsessed with her. He was hers and his former girlfriend became, "Leah who?"

Harry assumed there was an imprint (as did the whole council) with Emily that accounted for his change of heart, but not the probable sexual relationship between him and Leah. In the end, he couldn't resist confronting his former, potential son-in-law about the past and present.

"I just don't understand it, Sam," he had said, shaking his head. "You and Leah have been so close for over three years. One minute you're about to ask her to marry you, and the next you're ignoring her and paying all this attention to Emily."

"Sorry, Harry," Sam had replied guiltily. "But I imprinted on Emily. You know that I have no control over that. I love Leah, but Emily is the one that I need and want. Every time she rejects me, it hurts like hell."

"Well, every time she thinks of you, and I don't think that she ever stops," Harry had answered. "Leah hurts like hell. You have no idea of how much you've broken her heart."

"I probably don't," he had admitted. "But I can't really think about that. All I can think about is Emily. She won't have anything to do with me. No matter how many times, I tell her, she always throws Leah up in my face. She doesn't seem to realize that I don't feel that way about Leah anymore. It's killing me."

The look on Harry's face when he said that was furious.

"You talk about my daughter like she's an old pair of shoes that you can just throw away when a nicer pair comes along," he answers. "Sue told me that you robbed my daughter of her virtue. What do you have to say about that?"

Sam is real lucky that he's still alive after he answered that one. Having seen the conversation in his mind several times, I still can't believe how he was so totally insensitive to Leah's feelings at this time. In fact, he didn't even feel an ounce of regret until he was engaged to Emily. But after the imprint, winning over Emily was all that mattered.

"I didn't rob Leah of anything," Sam answered, pretty stupidly in my mind considering that he was talking to her father. "She was perfectly willing. But things changed the minute that I imprinted. And you know as well as I do that I can't change that."

"I know," replied Harry, after staring at him in silence, shock, and awe for several minutes. "But you have to understand that this is my daughter that we're talking about here. If you've knocked her up, you're going to 'unimprint' from Emily as fast as you can and take Leah to the nearest courthouse."

Sam's feelings were in turmoil, and now he stood staring at Harry in Silence, shock, and awe for several minutes.

"Oh, my God!" he finally whispered. "If that happened then Emily will never love me."

At this moment, Harry looked completely defeated and walked away. I have tried to figure out the timeline, but I think that it was shortly after that when he started to show some of his poor health symptoms. His health went downhill for a few months. I'm not sure if he ever talked about it to his family again, but he has always been cordial to Sam and Emily.

As a council member, he has no choice. Sam is the Alpha and he has to support him. And unlike Sam, Billy, and Old Quil (not to mention Quil and me), Harry does not have a direct bloodline back to the last three wolves. In these kinds of tribal matters, personal feelings don't matter. So, when Sam finally managed to win Emily's love after he almost killed her, Harry had no choice but to congratulate him with everyone else.

This increased his tension with his wife and children, and now whenever he sees Sam, he looks extremely uncomfortable. There is a part of me that is glad that Sam now feels guilty every time that he looks at Harry or Leah. But when they are not around, his thoughts are all about Emily.

Meanwhile, poor Harry has to live with Sue and Leah and can't even tell them that there is a "rational-irrational" reason why Sam just dropped Leah like that. Neither of them can know about the wolves. But I'm not sure if how much good it would do either of them to know. Something tells me that it would be cold comfort for Leah to find out that the split was truly not about her.

I mean, I've pretty much figured out that Bella preferring Edward has nothing to do with me. But Bella was never my girlfriend. She was just this kind of "ideal girl" that didn't look twice at me except as a younger brother. But man! Leah had a really good reason to think that she and Sam were going to get married someday. Sam had even told her that many times.

So I figure that it's just as well that I never fell in a love with a girl who could really love me back. I think that I'm not going to be attracted to anyone unless I imprint. That's the only logical way that I can think about it. So I guess I'm lucky that Bella never really liked me _like that._ I looked at her real hard the minute I first saw, but nothing happened. She was just another person walking into Harry's house. I'm glad now.

We can still be friends like we used to be, but she doesn't have to worry about hurting my feelings. I know that she had been purposely dropping hints about that, but I refused to pay attention. And what if I had convinced her to love me before I knew about the wolf thing? The thought of two girls like Leah running around Forks is just awful! No girl deserves that. Bella is never going to know how lucky she was.

So I guess that it's kind of ironic that Bella is going to be the one to help set Leah free. I'm sure that she knows all the about the Sam thing. Sue told her and I'm willing to bet that Leah told her too. Bella is just one of those great listeners that makes you want to tell her your problems. And she's such a nice person that she wants to help you fix them.

I'm glad that she doesn't know about all the imprinting stuff. And it's a damn good thing that the Cullens don't either. If they did, they would probably be laughing their asses off at us. It's not only a wolf thing. It's just such an animal thing. You don't have any will of your own, you just kind of find your "mate." And no matter how much you like another girl, once the mate comes along . . . Bam! It hits you.

After I drop off Leah at Harry's, I go back to my own house.

"So," Billy says as I walk in. "How's Charlie?"

"He's not bad," I reply. "But we didn't talk too much except about the game. The Giants creamed us."

"That's no big surprise since they won the Super Bowl last year," Billy replies.

"The regular season is over now," I remark. "At least Charlie still has basketball to keep him busy."

"At least," Billy answers. "Did you see Bella?"

"Only for a little while," I say carefully. "She spent all of her time with Leah looking at colleges. She sent Leah home with a bunch of papers for her to fill out."

"That's good," Billy says. "It's about time we got that little bitch out of La Push so that she can't hurt Sam anymore."

"Well, it's not like Sam never hurt her," I answer, pissed off again by his lack of sympathy.

"Look, it's not Sam's fault he imprinted on her cousin," he says. "She just needs to get over it."

"Well, in case you've forgotten," I say sarcastically. "Leah doesn't know anything about imprinting. All she knows is that the guy who promised that he would marry her and got her to sleep with him dumps her out of nowhere and with no kind of explanation for her cousin and former best friend. It's Sam that needs to let go."

"Sam is a good man," Billy says. "The imprinting was nothing against Leah. She just wasn't meant to be his mate."

"I know that better than you do," I reply. "I can read his mind. Remember? How would you feel if it was Rachel or Rebecca who got dumped?"

That shuts him up for a full minute.

"I would give either of them the same advice that Harry gave Leah," he finally says. "She needs to give him up. That's just the way it is."

"Well, I'm just glad that I don't have a girlfriend," I observe. "If I did, I would break up with her gently so that she wouldn't be hurt if I imprinted."

"What makes you think that you wouldn't imprint like Jared did?" he asks.

"Jared was lucky," I reply. "And so am I. If I imprinted on my girlfriend, I would know it the minute I first saw her. And if I didn't, I would make sure that she didn't end up like Leah. You have a lot of nerve feeling sorry for Sam. Trust me, when he's with Emily he has absolutely no regrets about Leah. He's all about Emily.

"I feel sorry for Leah. And I hope that she gets away from La Push for her own sake, not Sam's. Sam may be my pack leader and get my total respect and allegiance when it comes to the pack, but when it comes to his personal life, I think he's a jerk."

"What about you and Bella?" he asks. "I thought that you were sweet on her."

"Now that I know she's not my imprint," I reply. "I'm not going to be anything more than a friend. I'm glad that she never noticed me like that and she always thought that I was a kid. I'm glad that I'm not going to break her heart the way that Sam broke Leah's."

"You make it sound like it's all Sam's fault," Billy says defensively.

"Well, it's not Leah's fault," I retort as I begin to get angry. "What is she? Don't her feelings count? Or is she just some sacrifice to be laid on the altar of Quileute mythology?"

"Where the hell did you learn to talk like that?" he sneers.

"In school," I reply. "I can read. I'm not the bonehead that everyone thinks I am."

"That's not what I mean and you know it," he says. "How dare you disrespect our tribe's history and call it mythology?"

"Yeah, right," I mutter. "I've got to go relieve Quil on guard duty. He took my shift so that I could drive Leah over."

"Does he feel the same way about the Sam and Leah situation that you do?" Billy asks suspiciously.

"Not quite," I say. "He's too new to it all. Embry goes along with me, but it was Paul who started it after Jared imprinted. The three of us figure that since none of us have girls, we're going to keep it that way until we stop phasing."

Billy looks shocked.

"You could be an old man," he says. "What if you don't imprint?" Don't you understand that it's your duty to marry and have sons?"

"You haven't been listening to a word I've said," I say in disgust. "No more Leahs!"

I run out of the house, kicking off my shoes and clothes the minute I'm out the backdoor. I grab my jeans and tie them at the ankle. If I have to listen to another word he says, I'm going to puke. When I phase, I join up my mind with Quil and Embry's. I am grateful that I don't have to listen to Sam's thoughts and I do my best to focus on the game I just saw rather than my argument with Billy.

Embry is learning to conceal his thoughts when he's phased, but Quil hasn't learned yet. And it's not like I care about hurting Sam's feelings. No. I would rather he not know how supportive Billy is of him. I am now taking a kind of perverse pleasure in watching him suffer over Leah's misery. If she has to suffer, then so should he.

_"Hey, man! What's it going to be for Leah? Harvard or Yale?"_

_"Shut up, Quil! Like you know anything about it. Bella told her that she can probably find a good school in Washington or Oregon. Leah is actually almost happy about it. I think she might even have smiled today."_

_"Really? That's great! The only shot that she has of being happy is out La Push. Maybe she'll meet some nice guy at college that will make her forget all about that jerk Sam."_

_"C'mon Embry. He's our Alpha. You can't talk about him like that."_

_"Very true, but if you think of this conversation when he can hear you, I bet he would agree with you. He deserves every bit of guilt he feels."_

_"Okay, you two. That's enough. Quil, why don't you go home and do your homework or something else useful?"_

_"No problem! My Mom is going to kick my ass if I come home with any more Ds. Even my grandpa can't talk her down when she gets going. It really sucks that you can't tell your family about this whole thing."_

Embry and I wait in silence until we can hear Quil's mind leave us. Both of us breathe a mental sigh of relief. Once upon a time, Quil's whole nice guy thing was great. But he's been so psyched about becoming a wolf that he has been following us all around like a puppy. Now he totally idolizes Sam.

_"Is she really doing better, bro?"_

_"That's how it seemed when I dropped her off at Harry's. She had a great afternoon with Bella. She did her share of complaining and then counseled Bella about her love life. Pretty ironic, huh? Especially when you consider which one has the fiancé. But Bella was great with her. She must have found her twenty schools that could be a good fit, whatever that means."_

_"It sounds like a suit or something. It's great to see that you have given up on Bella."_

_"She's not my imprint. So what's the point? But now that I've the time to think about it, if either Dad or Sam are right about why we imprint, there's no way that any of us could imprint on her."_

_"I see what you mean. A scrawny, little white girl certainly wouldn't be a good breeder for the pack. We might as well let the bloodsuckers have her." _

_"Even though I've said the same thing myself, the whole breeding and mating thing does start to sound pretty awful after awhile. I just don't get why Sam didn't imprint on Leah. Except for my sisters, she's got the best bloodlines of any female in the tribe."_

_"You should be glad that they're out of it. It's too bad that you can't warn them to stay away from La Push. It would really suck if someone like, I don't know, Paul imprinted on her."_

_"Don't even think about it."_

We run the boundary towards the south for awhile, both of us running different pack things through our minds. Suddenly, I stop short.

_"No way!"_

_"Way, Jake! It's really weird the way that you can be so critical of Sam and not feel any guilt about it. Paul and I feel bad about it all the time. He's still our pack leader. I know that he's treated Leah like crap, but it's impossible not to like Emily and to be happy for the both of them."_

_"I really never thought that you liked her for anything besides her cooking."_

_"You used to like her cooking and her. But lately, it's like you've almost started to think for yourself. You know. Sometimes you really start second guessing Sam even."_

_"Only about the way he treats Leah. I have never once challenged his decisions for the pack."_

_"You've thought about it. I've seen how you've thought that everyone is making a big deal over the Cullens for nothing. And you're pissed at him for taking credit for our kill."_

_"So are you. But I'm getting real sick of running around in circles all weekend. I'm not even sure of what I'm protecting the tribe from anymore. And my Dad is acting like a complete idiot most of the time. Trust me. It sucks more when your family is in on the big wolf secret. Especially when he is the ceremonial Chief of the Council of Elders that we agreed not to have decades ago."_

_"Billy only wants what's best for you."_

_"What's best for me is to get away from La Push too."_

_"No it's not, and you know it. I'm no fan of running around in circles either, but we have a responsibility and we have to uphold it. Maybe when the Cullens leave, life will be normal again."_

_"Dream on if you think that life will ever be normal for us again. You know how hard it is to totally control your temper so that you never phase any more. It's going to be years before any of us can do it. And what happens in the meantime? Do we all end up being owned by one of our tribal breeders with good bloodlines?"_

_"Jared seems pretty happy with his imprint."_

_"Jared didn't have to behave like some scumbag to latch onto her. He was lucky that she had a secret crush on him all these years. And he was lucky because he didn't love anyone else."_

_"Well, we won't be breaking any hearts. By the way, have you noticed how big little Seth is growing?"_

_"Big enough that it's kind of silly to call him little Seth anymore. He's lucky that he has Harry to run interference for him with Sue. I'm not sure of why we need him to phase. We already outnumber them. What's the big deal?"_

_"Who knows? Is there anything the least bit logical about all of this? If you had told me a year ago that we would be running around in the woods every weekend, I would have said you were crazy. But here we are, running around in the form of wolves like all those ridiculous tribal legends. Who knew they were true?" _

_"Only the guys that told us I guess. But Dad and Old Quil did see the last wolves phase once or twice so that they would understand if they phased after they died. Every time Billy starts complaining about never being a wolf, I want to offer to trade places with him. And he never lets up about the whole Alpha thing."_

_"Maybe that's why."_

_"Maybe that's why what?"_

_"Maybe that's why you can disagree with Sam without feeling guilty. Maybe you have the power inside of you to be the Alpha. I know why you didn't take it when you first phased, but don't you see? You're the second strongest wolf. In fact you might even be stronger even if he is a little bigger. You're his Beta wolf. And your Beta orders are as strong as his Alpha orders."_

_"So maybe the Betas always had that power. If there were never any more than three wolves, who would the Beta give orders to? The one other guy? Maybe when the packs were bigger, the Betas could give orders like Alphas. Maybe they forgot."_

_"Yeah, right. Those old stories don't forget anything worth knowing."_

_"They forgot the name of the third wife."_

_"They didn't forget it. They just didn't want to remember it. The story sounds a lot better if it's about the Third Wife rather than Running Deer, or some other stupid ass name. That could be any old woman. But the Third Wife has this kind of mystical, magical ring to it."_

_"If you say so. But I still don't see the point in being Alpha. I still have to go to school everyday for crying out loud. And I'm only a sophomore."_

_"Okay, good point. But someday, you should be Alpha."_

_"By the time I'm old enough, the Cullens will be long gone and maybe we won't have to phase anymore."_

Embry doesn't have any thoughts about that idea. We run for the next few hours in silence, grateful that there are no problems to speak of. Around eleven, Paul and Jared's voices pop into our heads.

_"Time to hit the hay, boys! I hope you've done all your homework."_

_"Go to hell, Paul."_

We both think it together, but neither one of us is really pissed. As soon as we're close enough to town to phase back, we turn human and don't have to listen to Paul razzing us, and Jared's memories of his time with Kim anymore. Embry and I look at each other and sigh in relief.

"If I ever imprint, remind me how much it sucks to replay your love life for your brothers," he remarks.

"No problem," I reply. "_Did_ you do all your homework?"

He laughs.

"I never did it before I phased, why start now?" he asks. "Sam told me once that he'd lay an Alpha order on me if I didn't start, but I told him that it wasn't his business. Doing my homework won't make me a better wolf."

"That's true," I say. "But it will give you a shot at something better."

"Leah's college thing must be rubbing off on you," he replies. "When I finish school, I'm going to help Mom in the store. Then she's going to pass it along to me. She's counting on me sticking by her and I am."

"You're a better son than I am," I say, shaking my head.

"I think that it's different with my Mom and me," he says. "It's just the two of us. It always has been. She's done a lot for me, sacrificed a lot. She told me that when I get married I can bring my wife home and we'll manage on what we make in the store. She'll even take care of the grandkids for it. I kind of like it when she talks like that. It makes me feel normal, like any other guy."

"Yeah, right," I say rolling my eyes. "Like some girl is going to want to live with your Mom."

"Well, if I imprint then she won't have a choice," he grins.

"No, idiot," I answer rolling my eyes. "That's not the way it works. If you imprint, _you _won't have a choice. Remember? It's all about her, not you. If she wants her own house, she gets it, just like Emily."

"You're right," he admits. "Emily didn't want to live with Sam's Mom so he got her a house."

"And that was fine with Sam's Mom," I say. "She was pissed at him for dropping Leah. And she's even more pissed because of the way he worships Emily. She really counted on him after his Dad ran off. But now, it's all about Emily. If it's been bad for Leah, it's been almost as bad foe his Mom. That's just the way it is."

"Crap!" he says. "I never thought of that. Poor Mom! If I imprint, it's really going to suck. And she won't even know why I abandoned her."

"Just like Sam's Mom," I agree. "But at least she has other kids. This whole imprint thing sounds great in theory. And I guess when there wasn't any divorce it wasn't so bad for the families. But things are much different today."

"Yeah," he says thoughtfully when we reach the store. "See you tomorrow, bro."

I sigh again as I continue on to my own house. Billy is waiting for me when I get home.

"Did you think about what I said before?" he asks.

"No," I say. "Embry and I were on patrol. We had to stay focused on the line. No problems though. We didn't catch any scents but the Cullens. It looks like they keep running their own perimeter too. We can't be too careful."

"Just as long as they stay on their side of the line," he grumbles.

"They _always _stay on their side of the line," I answer.

"I was hoping that you were developing a greater respect for our histories," he says, getting back to our argument from before my patrol. "But I guess that I'm out of luck."

"Totally," I reply. "Why don't you get Sam to lay an Alpha order on me?"

I go off to my room and slam the door. I know that I'm going to catch hell for that tomorrow. Every time I mention the whole Alpha thing, he gets pissed. I know that I should have more sympathy for him. He doesn't really have anything else to do all day but sit in his wheelchair and think about all the past tribal glory. After the girls left home, I think that he figured that he would always have me. I'm just about ready for bed when Billy walks in without knocking.

"Sam's here to see you," he announces.

"Crap!" I exclaim. "I was joking, okay? Being sarcastic. I didn't mean for you to ask him to lay down an Alpha order."

"This isn't about an Alpha order," he smirks. "It's about respecting your Alpha."

"You suck," I mutter as I walk by.

Sam is standing there in the living room, looking pissed at me.

"Should we take this outside so that we don't break the furniture?" I ask.

"No," he says stiffly. "Let's go outside for some privacy."

Like hell for "some privacy." There's no privacy with the pack mind. As soon as either one of us phases the others will know. But that's probably not what he means. It probably sucked for him to be called away from Emily so that he could chew me out. We walk out the door and all the way to the beach. Then Sam turns and folds his arms across his chest. I can tell that he's trying to look like some kind of authority figure, but he just looks defensive.

"So I understand that you took Leah to Bella's house this afternoon," he says.

"It's none of your business," I reply.

"The safety of every member of the tribe is my business," he answers.

"Really?" I ask. "Like Bella's going to hurt her, or Charlie. Look, I was downstairs the whole time, not that Leah can't take care of herself. Besides, are _you _going to help Leah find a college?"

"Leah doesn't need to find a college," he answers. "She can stay home and go to college, or go to one of the WSU schools."

"That's Leah's business not yours," I say. "Sue is one hundred percent behind Leah getting away from La Push and building a new life away from the reservation. Remember? You destroyed her old life."

"I didn't have a choice," he replies.

"Fine," I say. "We can both agree on that. You didn't have a choice and neither did she. I know how much begging and pleading she did when you told her. She never had a chance. But now she had both a choice and a chance at a life. Don't screw it up for her."

"Emily feels terrible that she wants to leaves her home and family," he replies.

"And Emily know how you didn't have a choice," I say. "And she knows that she never stood a chance holding out against you for Leah's sake. But this isn't about Emily. It's about Leah. Emily has you to comfort her when she feels terrible. Leah doesn't."

"You shouldn't have interfered," he says.

"If I hadn't," I answer reasonably. "Sue would have drive her over. I just figured that Leah would be safer if she had a wolf to guard her while she was there. Do you have a problem with that?"

I can tell that he's really uncomfortable with my defiance, but I don't care. This isn't about the pack at all. It's about me helping Leah to have something better than she has now. He's entitled to marry any girl he wants. But Leah's entitled to a real life.

"That's not what I was talking about," he says. "Why did you convince her to drop out if the wedding party? That was none of your business."

"I didn't convince her about anything," I say. "You know Leah better than I do. She makes up her own mind about things. I listened to her problems and offered her some advice. And you might as well know that Sue was totally on her side."

"I do know," he answers grimly. "Sue is becoming a real problem. That's what happens when women start to gain too much power."

"That's rich!" I answer sarcastically. "Coming from a guy who is totally in the power of his woman. Just leave the Clearwaters alone, okay? Harry still isn't doing so great and Sue is pretty worried about him as well as Leah. What the hell is Emily's problem that she wants to twist the knife that she's stuck inside of her cousin's back."

"Emily didn't do anything," he answers defensively. "It was all me. In fact if she didn't care so much about Leah then I wouldn't have scarred her face. She only wants Leah to accept our marriage and forgive her. She feels that if Leah is in the wedding party that it will prove to everyone who doesn't know about the imprint that she didn't steal me away from her."

I think about it for a minute. Most of the folks in the tribe who don't know about the imprint are polite to Emily, but not really friendly. But she isn't lonely because she has Sam and the pack. I suppose that it's human nature to want people to like you and put your own feelings first. But I still feel worse for Leah than I do for her.

"Well," I finally say. "I understand why you are putting Emily's feelings above Leah's, but I think that you and Emily should both respect Leah's feelings enough to not force her to watch you guys get married. It's cruel. And if I to do it again, I'd still tell that she shouldn't be in the wedding unless she wants to. Just let it go, Sam. Everyone keeps telling Leah to let it go. She can't unless you do."

I know that Sam is getting angry by the way that he is starting to tremble. He doesn't like to have his words challenged. And I know he's pissed because I'm insinuating that he's hurting one of the tribe's members that he is sworn to protect. Having Leah around is a reminder that he isn't the perfect protector that he thinks he is.

But he can't let go of it until he knows that she is happy again. Like she ever can be happy again living at La Push! But Sam is a proud man and he won't give up easily. Maybe he would if Emily would give up on it. But I just don't know Emily well enough to figure out what she's about. Nobody knows her. She grew up on the Makah Rez. And now, she's just this sweet, kind person who takes great care of the pack.

Maybe Emily has the same problem that Sam does. Maybe she can't accept Leah's right to be angry and free of them because as long as she's around she makes Emily look like something less than the perfect, little wolf imprint that she wants to be.

But I can't buy into that. I can't buy into Leah sucking up to their demands so that everyone thinks they're perfect. They're not perfect. Nobody is. And I may be just some kind of dumb ass grease monkey, but I understood some of those tragedies we read in English. They always came down to some arrogant son of a bitch thinking that he was so perfect. He couldn't make a mistake. And the he always hurt the ones he loved the most.

"Jacob," he finally says. "I'm going to give you am Alpha order to stay away from Leah from now on. I want you to phase."

"Well that's the stupidest Alpha order that I ever heard of," I reply insolently. "What does it have to do with the pack or the safety of the tribe?"

"Your actions are divisive," he says. "You are encouraging Leah to create a split within the pack and the tribe because of her jealousy of Emily."

"Leah doesn't give a crap about the tribe," I reply. "And she doesn't know squat about the pack. Besides, Leah doesn't need me to influence her one way or the other. But she does need a friend. And you can dictate a lot of things in my life, but you can't dictate my friends. I'm not phasing. I'm going home so that I can go to bed and get some sleep. I have a math test tomorrow."

I turn on my heel and stalk off. I know that I am leaving Sam behind with his mouth open, but it don't care. Me divide the pack? Hah! His buddy Paul did that when he swore off girls until he imprinted. Without saying a word about it, it was a total condemnation of what Sam did to Leah when he imprinted on Emily.

It is a sacred rule that no wolf can kill another wolf's imprint, but no one wants to kill Emily. In fact, no one is doing anything to Emily at all. None of what we are doing has anything to do with Sam and Emily at all. And if they feel judged because of it, well tough. That's their problem.

But my problem right now is Billy. I know that he is waiting for me at home so that I can tell him that I am blindly following Sam's lead. He can wait until hell freezes over for that announcement. As I walk in the house, I look at him defiantly but go straight to my room. As I pass him, I can see him staying to hide some kind if smirk on his face. What the hell is the old man up to now?


	13. Tragedy

**Another Eclipse**

_Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use._

_Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my other story "New Moon Rewound," which envisions the Twilight Saga as if the original _New Moon_ was only a nightmare._

**Chapter 13: Tragedy**

It's been over a month since Bella invited Leah over to her house to look for colleges. Not much has happened since then, at least as far as we are concerned. Charlie has gotten through the Super Bowl season and now March madness is upon us.

In Charlie's world, time is measured by sports seasons. March madness will conclude just in time for the opening day of the baseball season. After he is finished rooting for Michigan State, he can turn his a attention to the Mariners. Alice predicts that he will be disappointed by both teams this year.

It is also Spring Break, the anniversary of the dreadful week last year when we were trying to track James who was tracking Bella so that he could kill her. He didn't have any particular reason to track her other than for sport. However, it became the seminal event from which all of our other problems have germinated. It is one anniversary that none of us will be celebrating.

Tonight we spent a pleasant night out doubledating with Angela and Ben. Ben sat suffering through the "chick flick" that the girls wanted to see, impatiently enduring their weepy eyes at the end. I didn't really care much what we saw at the movies. In some ways I prefer the tearjerkers. They give me an excuse to hold Bella a little tighter to comfort her.

"Edward," Bella says to me as she walks into her bedroom after saying good night to Charlie. "I hope that you don't mind that Leah and Seth are coming over tomorrow."

This is a conversation that we have every time that the Clearwaters visit. It surprises me that she even bothers to ask anymore.

"Why should I mind?" I answer with a shrug. "All you need is Jacob and you'll have the whole rez gang. Besides, I really enjoy hanging out with Seth. He's a great kid, so open and honest. I imagine that Jacob was like him before he phased."

"What about Leah?" she asks, already knowing my response.

"She's tolerable," I answer honestly. "Some of her rough edges have softened since she started coming over here. You've definitely been a good influence. She has something to look forward to as a positive step into her future instead of something to regret from the past. But I'm surprised that Jacob isn't using this as an excuse to see you."

"Jacob can't tolerate the smell very well," she smirks. "He doesn't think that the stench is worth the opportunity to see me. I would say that the old crush is definitely old news. And besides, Sam has him running patrols all weekend."

"Sam knows how much time Jacob spends over here in my presence," I reply. "I suppose that he can catch the scent on Jacob's body and in his thoughts. That would bug him and his brothers. And I'm sure that Jacob takes a kind of perverse pleasure in annoying them."

"You mean you _know _it bugs him and his brothers," she says. "You can see Jacob's thoughts as well as they can. But I really get annoyed sometimes by the way that he sits there suffering in silence and making snarky remarks that Leah and Seth can't understand. Leah is pissed that he comes over with them. She feels like he is either spying on them or guarding them. And of course neither of those explanations makes any sense to her."

"Or both," I agree. "Leah is very intuitive, not to mention suspicious. Seth doesn't mind because Jacob is the older brother he always wanted and he thinks that he can do no wrong. Leah likes him better than she used to, but she also highly values her privacy, not to mention her relationship with you. You're her savior."

"I only did what anyone else would do," she replies modestly.

"No, you didn't and no, you don't," I reply. "There's no one in the tribe who can help her as you do, or even wants to for that matter. And how many whites do you think would even care about the hopes and dreams of a Quileute the way that you do? Considering how nasty she was to you in the beginning, she had no right to expect anything from you. And she knows it."

"Yes, I suppose she does," she says thoughtfully. "I suppose that she likes having someone to confide in who isn't directly connected to the situation. She and Sue are very worried about Harry, but so far they have managed to shield Seth from the worst of it. The changes in diet and exercise have certainly helped Charlie's health to improve, but Harry continues to slide. It's the comparison between the two that increases their anxiety."

"I know," I answer seriously. "But it's no fault of theirs, or even his anymore. He was in worse shape to begin with and he doesn't have a job to go out to everyday to make him feel useful. And he doesn't have access to the same level of care that Charlie does."

"You mean that Billy and the council won't let him put his health into the hands of a white doctor like Gerandy especially if it means being in the same zip code as Carlisle," she sighs. "But that still wouldn't get him out of the house and feeling productive."

"True, but if he could recover some of his former health, perhaps he could do something part-time," I say. "Leah sometimes feels guilty that she may be leaving home just when her parents need her most, but Sue is insistent. If an opportunity comes along for her to study and a build a life off the reservation, she is determined that she will take it. Even Harry has come around."

"I thought as much," she replies. "At least when Charlie and I go over to visit the he doesn't give me the hairy eyeball anymore for helping her apply to college. With any luck, Leah will be hearing from some of her choices in a week or so. I just hope that she gets a good scholarship."

"She will," I assure her. "I never realized how truly poor those families were in La Push until I helped you fill out her FAFSA. And I know that her family is better off financially than most. The only worry is that she will require so much aid that the schools may be reluctant to take her."

"But doesn't her contribution to the diversity profile offset that?" she asks.

"You're finally beginning to understand the game," I reply. "I think that it will. And with any luck, she won't have to take out any loans. She has no concept whatsoever of managing money other than by living hand to mouth. If she was told to take out loans for even ten thousand a year, she would completely freak out. And you won't be around to help her figure it out."

"That's true," she says. "I will have to make sure that someone in town knows about her situation and can step forward to help her."

"So your mind is still made up?" I ask.

"Absolutely," she says. "We aren't going to get into that old argument, are we?"

"No," I say. "I am looking forward to you joining me in this life, if you want to call it that. I just don't want to see you leaving behind any regrets, or feel like you are leaving loose ends."

"Carlisle and I discussed that the other night," she replies. "And there is no way that I will not leave loose ends. But I can do whatever I can to mitigate the effects of my disappearance and death. I just wish that I could achieve some kind resolution with Renee."

"Well, don't give up," I encourage her. "You have a graduation and a wedding coming up. Sometimes life-changing events like that bring families together. And you cannot possibly think that you haven't tried hard enough."

"I know," she sighs and curls up beside me with her head nestled into my shoulder.

Within minutes, she is sound asleep. I heave a sigh of my own and settle in for about eight hours of silent contemplation through the long night. We have reached a point of countdown to the wedding and her transformation. We graduate at the end of May and then the date of the wedding is set for June 20, the date of the summer solstice this year, our own private joke.

I still haven't completely decided on a honeymoon destination. Esme has offered us the use of Isle Esme as a wedding gift, but getting there may be a problem. Following the wedding, which our Denali cousins will attend with Emmett and Rosalie of course, we plan to go back to Alaska with the Denalis and Carlisle while the others stay to close up the Forks house and organize the move.

Despite our great desire that I be the one to change Bella, I definitely want Carlisle to be present. I don't want to run the risk of getting carried away and losing her inadvertently. Eleazer will also be there. Between the two of them, he and Carlisle should be able to hold me if I lose control. I will then also have the support that I need as I watch Bella writhe in pain and scream for me to kill her. But once she wakes up, we will be faced with a new problem. Her thirst will be uncontrollable.

This is where the advantage of being in Denali really kicks in. There will be plenty of game around in the summer and it will be relatively easy to keep her from being exposed to any humans. This is why a honeymoon on Isle Esme will be such a challenge.

There is nothing to hunt to satisfy the thirst of a newborn on the island. And there is no way of getting her there without human involvement. We considered changing her there. That solves the human problem, but not the feeding problem. There are other places in the north where we can easily go and feed and be alone.

But my vision of our time alone includes lots of bright sun, in addition to privacy, where we can fully enjoy our new life and glory in our full vampire beauty. When I told this to Carlisle and Esme, they smiled at me indulgently. They knew that I had picked these ideas up from their memories of their own times there. But when they went, it was no problem for them to take the boat back to the mainland and hunt when they needed to frequently.

As mature vampires, they only needed to hunt every week or two. But a newborn requires feeding everyday. So at present, the idea remains that we will go to Isle Esme and honeymoon there in a year or so after the transformation. The difficulty will be in keeping our eventual destination a secret for so long. We will certainly be able to keep the physical aspect of the honeymoon, but not really the private.

The work on our cottage has begun apace now that the weather has become slightly more temperate. In fact in a month or so, Esme plans to go up to see how things are progressing and begin to work on the interior design. The final product is intended as another surprise for Bella. That and the honeymoon will be the pleasant surprises of our wedding gifts. I am highly uncertain as to how Bella will react to Alice's surprise.

Alice has decided that once Bella is physically transformed, her wardrobe will need a complete transformation as well. Not surprisingly, for the last week she and Esme have been in a standoff about the size of the closet in relation to the rest of the house. If Alice had her way, the closet would be larger than the bedroom and living room combined. Yet this would throw off the entire proportion of the house.

Esme's original designs were based on close consultation with Bella regarding the various space needs. Bella doesn't want a large space to keep clean. Luckily, in Alaska right now, the galley kitchen is in vogue. It will only be for show, as will the dining room, which will be equally small. This leaves room for a comfortable bedroom, living room, and music room. Naturally there will be a bathroom, but it will be no larger than necessary, with the proper array of props as well as necessities.

When Alice saw Esme's final design, which included what I thought was a rather good-sized walk in closet, she immediately rebelled. When Esme (with no small degree of exasperation) explained that the idea was to create a _cottage_, Alice immediately suggested that she get rid of the kitchen and dining room and use _that _space for the closet.

After all, how many humans would possibly ever come into our home? Those props and sets would certainly not be needed for show purposes. Since all of Bella's human family and friends would believe that she was dead, there was no reason to keep up any kind of charade for their sake. When Carlisle saw me wince at the final argument, he told Alice to keep quiet and let Esme do the designing.

In the end, Alice may win out anyway. It may be arguable that Alice's "need" for a large closet should in no way be factored into the plans, but Carlisle believes that it is in all of our best interests to keep peace in the family, especially if we wanted to maintain the secret from Bella.

Normally, Bella hates surprises, but once she realized the great pleasure that it would give to everyone else concerned, she graciously agreed to play along with the two most important. She won't know anything about the final design of the house until she sees it, and is completely willing to go along with the secrecy regarding the honeymoon destination.

Other than that, things seemed to be working out on all fronts. Despite our rather disastrous beginning with Dr. Weber, we found a way to convince him that we both were mature enough to marry. And while we still had a couple of sessions with him, I could see in his mind that unless some completely unexpected reason came out, we would be able to go ahead with our June date.

Bella was very cooperative about following through with her own "personal therapy" and "medication" with one of Carlisle's colleagues on the psyche department at the hospital. Since the biggest stressor in her life was Renee, it kept their sessions focused on safe topics. Bella even admitted that it was useful to talk to someone that was a neutral third party.

Originally, the choice of medicine was dicey, as a couple of the doctor's favorites required follow up blood work, which we didn't want because Bella had no intention of taking any mood-altering drugs that she really didn't need. The eventual choice of Lexapro was deemed satisfactory on all sides. Presently, two completely full bottles are tucked away on her nightstand. We have to keep refilling the prescription to keep up the charade.

I suppose that my own regret is that when the college acceptances come in, we will have to make a show of making a choice and then disappear completely. The cover story has been worked out.

After Bella "dies" in a tragic accident shortly after the wedding, I will be too distraught to attend the school where we had looked forward to studying together. There is no one, except the most hardhearted person, who could argue with that logic. Then we will all disappear forever.

Thus, despite the almost daily crises that occurred since we returned to Forks during the first few weeks, things are smoothed out almost to a point of perfection. But that makes me nervous. Anything relating to humans generally does not work out as planned. There are too many variables that can interfere. My greatest fear is that at some point, some new problem will arise and throw our present state of calm into chaos.

When Bella awakens this morning, she is happy and smiling. We will all be going to church together and then I will drive back to her house with her and Charlie. Dr. Weber is pleased to see us there with our parents and thinks how wonderful it is that the two families get along so well. He is pleased to see Charlie's improved state of health and congratulates himself for his part of it.

After a healthy brunch (who would have thought that you could ever have gotten Charlie to enjoy an egg white omelette with whole toast and fruit?) at home, hegoes off to meet his deputy Mark to go fishing, while Bella and I wait for the arrival of the Clearwaters. We notice that their chauffeur is Sue, who doesn't get out of the car, but waves to us as she drives off.

"Hi, Bella! Hi, Edward!" Seth greets us. "Mom doesn't want you to think that she's being rude or anything, but she has to get to work."

"She's hoping that you won't mind giving us a ride home, Bella," adds Leah. "She has a long shift today. Besides, Edward hasn't been to our house yet."

I can see in her mind that Sue wants to be cordial to me because she knows that I have been helping Bella with Leah's application stuff. And I recently began coaching Seth for baseball tryouts. He played pee-wee ball when he was little and wants to tryout for the high school team. Since there is only enough space for one field and one available coach, he has to make the varsity team if he wants to play.

Seth is a willing student and quick learner, but his body is not entirely up to executing the moves that he understand that he needs to make. He is surprisingly strong for such a tall, skinny kid, but he has a long way to go in terms of technique. My own difficulty in playing with him is to hold way back on my own capabilities for throwing and batting.

So Sue has instructed Leah to invite us both to stay for dinner. I'm glad that I have prior knowledge. When I see that they are getting ready to leave, I will call Alice and have her pick me up for a family night. I don't like the idea of disappointing Sue and her good intentions, but there is no way that I can go on the reservation without breaking the treaty. No doubt this explains the smirk on

Harry's face when Sue gave Leah her instructions.

"Have you been burning incense?" Leah asks as we walk into the house. "It smells a little sweet in here."

"Bella burned something on the stove earlier and we had to cover the smell," I say quickly as Bella looks at me sharply.

Through Leah's thoughts, I can see that she is picking up the faint aroma of _my _scent. Switching over to Seth's mind, I can see that he is smelling it also. This is puzzling. Seth is too young to phase, as he is only presently going through puberty now. But Leah is female. Perhaps it has something to do with their being descendants of the original wolf. One of their legends told of _all _the sons and grandsons being able to smell vampires, but never mentioned the daughters.

However, in spite of that legend, I know for sure that Billy, Harry, and Old Quil have never smelled us. I originally resolved this dilemma for myself by assuming that it was an ability only inherited by those family members close to Taha Aki in his time, but it was lost to the later generations. Fortunately, my explanation about the burned food is easily accepted, with Leah inwardly smirking at the idea that her klutzy friend Bella couldn't even cook breakfast without incident.

There is no smugness in the tone of her thoughts. Instead there is an affectionate tone, much like that of a parent or older sister would have. Despite Bella's academic superiority, Leah sensed, quite rightly, that her social skills are still lacking. It is a comfort to her to know that Bella do not exceed her in all areas.

Now the two girls decide that they are going to go upstairs and listen to some indie music from one of Bella's new CDs. Seth wants more activity, so he and I go outside to work on his pitching. It was one of the "safer" skills for us to work on since he does all the hard work, while I catch the ball and then very gently (for me) toss it back.

"Gee, that must have been some stick of incense," he comments when we go outside. "I can even smell it out here."

My heart sinks when I perceive what he is able to smell. But I am even more disturbed because I can pick up the faint scent of wolf emanating from him. I can't imagine why this sweet, innocent boy is about to be caught up in the life of the wolf pack. There are already five of us and six of them.

Is it possible that their wolf instincts can know that two of our coven are still on the same side of the continent? If so, can that same instinct also perceive the six Denalis with Emmett and Rosalie? How many more of these Quileute children will be sucked in before we finally abandon Forks? I only hope that when we do, that same wolf instinct and realize it. Otherwise, merely decamping to Alaska will not stop the process.

If this is true then it would mean after Bella is turned there could be fourteen young men and boys trapped in a wolf pack created to defend the tribe against vampires over two thousands miles away. This is definitely a future point of debate for Carlisle, Jasper, and me.

I watch Seth as he winds up for his first pitch and realize that in the last week since we worked together, he has acquired more grace and control than he ever had before. The ball hits my glove with a responding thump and I realize that he has pitched a perfect strike at a speed of at least 100 mph. This is further evidence of my suspicions. The wolves may be large and bulky, but they are by no means clumsy. In fact I have seen that their speed and agility is capable of rivaling a vampire's.

I toss the ball back easily, but a little harder than usual, to Seth. He doesn't even notice the difference. As he continues to hurl strike after strike at ever increasing speeds, he seems to have no concept of the velocity of his pitching. He is equally unaware of the power of my own return throws. We continue like this for a half hour, but he doesn't feel a bit of the weariness or pain that a normal human would after such exertion.

At this point, Bella and Leah come out of the house to watch. Leah has been watching him through Bella's bedroom window. She is astounded by her brother's newly discovered talent.

"Holy crap, Seth!" she exclaims. "You must be throwing at about 200 mph!"

I control myself from replying that her estimate is not far off the target as Seth turns bright red.

"No, I'm not," he says. "That's ridiculous. You just haven't seen that many really good pitchers."

But she shakes her head.

"No way!" she answers defensively. "I may not know pitching, but I do know speed when I see it. For crying out loud! I can hardly see the ball before it hits Cullen's glove. I don't see how anyone will possibly be able to hit it."

Not a human anyway, I think to myself. But he is almost ready to rival Alice in vampire baseball.

"Oh, come on!" he answers rolling his eyes. "If I were pitching that fast, there is no way that Edward could catch it without breaking his hand."

To prove his point, I slip off my glove and hold up my hand. She looks at it hesitantly, as Bella looks on anxiously. Even without reading her thoughts, I know that she is aware of what this means. She had also not missed the comment about the incense earlier. To distract Leah, she suggests that they go inside and watch some stupid reality to show for a few laughs.

Even after they are gone, I find myself listening to her thoughts from outside. She is not paying much attention to the show, although she is laughing in the right spots. Instead she is trying to puzzle out what is going on with her brother. But without any knowledge of the wolves, there is no way that she can figure it out. Meanwhile, Seth is oblivious to his own strength. He thinks that his recent workout schedule has improved his pitching speed.

I can see his mind turning towards batting, but I cannot possibly let that happen in Bella's neighborhood. And even if he hit in the direction of the woods, I doubt that we would ever find the ball again. It would also provide him with irrefutable proof of his own strength. He might not know enough about faking exhaustion after such strenuous exercise, but I do.

"How 'bout we go inside and chill out for a while," I suggest. "This workout is making me tired."

"Well, I'm not so tired," he replies. "But I am starving."

This is another bad sign from my perspective. When we go in, he pops his head on the living room.

"Hey, sis!" he yells over the TV. "I'm making a snack. Do you want anything?"

"Whatever you're having sounds good to me," she replies. "I'm starving too."

But then, Leah is always starving. Like Seth, she has recently grown taller, but no taller than her mother really. When we enter the kitchen, Seth makes for the fridge and pulls out a package of hotdogs. He nonchalantly tosses them in a pot to boil some water, not realizing that an entire package of ten was excessive, even for four people. But I can read in his mind that he and Leah often indulge in such "snacks" at home. Before we return to the living room, he grabs a two-liter bottle of soda and a bag of chips.

"I'm surprised that Bella keeps this stuff around the house where Charlie can get it," he remarks.

"She only lays in a supply when you two come over," I say, replying to his unasked question. "Charlie can be trusted overnight."

"My Dad can't," he says. "We have to hide everything from him. And if he gets really desperate, he finds it. Then Mom gets mad and yells at all of us."

It's no wonder he's not getting any better, I think to myself. I sift through his thoughts and can see that Harry is definitely depressed. Of course, through the filter of Seth's mind, I can't tell by what. But if I have noticed Seth's symptoms, then he certainly has. Such knowledge would make any loving father depressed.

When we get to the living room, I beg off the hot dogs, claiming that I had too much for brunch, but I do "chow down" on some of the chips and soda. Bella, who is a light eater anyway, refuses to partake at all, leaving six hotdogs for Seth and four for Leah. Neither of them seems to be aware of how much they are consuming, but Bella is and looks anxious.

I give her a sharp look to remind her that she isn't supposed to know anything about the possibility that Seth could be the next wolf to phase. Picking up on my unspoken hint, she begins to joke about how they should make a reality show about Forks that would star Jessica and Lauren. Leah knows all about them from her many chats with Bella and throws in a few suggestions of her own.

Things are going along easily when the phone rings. Laughing that it might be Renee, Bella runs to pick it up and returns quickly to hand it to Leah.

"It's Billy," she whispers fearfully.

Leah takes the handset looking completely baffled and says, "Hey Billy! What up?"

"You two need to get home right now, that's what's up," he replies loudly enough for all of us to hear. "Your father needs you."

"We don't have the car," she replies, putting her arm around Seth, who has come over to listen. "Mom took it to work. Bella is supposed to drive us home."

"Then let her drive you home now," he replies. "We don't have time to send someone over to get you."

He hangs up without another word, but Leah doesn't make a move to click the phone off. I deftly take it and turn it off without touching her. Bella has run for her car keys. Suddenly, Seth looks every inch the kid that he is as a tear rolls down his cheek.

"Come on, you two," Bella says quickly. "Edward, you drive. You drive much faster than I do."

"But . . . " I begin.

"Look, if a cop stops us, I'm sure that we'll get a police escort into the La Push," she answers hastily. "Now move it!"

I don't argue with her, but I hope that we can get in and out of the La Push quickly enough that the wolves don't realize that I'm there. In her anxiety for her friends, she has forgotten about the treaty. When we get in the car, Bella sits in the front, while Seth and Leah settle quietly in the back seat. After a few miles, Leah suddenly sits bolt upright.

"Jesus Christ, Edward!" she shrieks. "Are you driving 100 mph?"

"At least," Bella answers sanguinely. "Don't worry, this is slow for him."

Leah is so scared she doesn't answer. Once we are outside of town, I gun it up to 120. She and Seth are both terrified now, but I get them to their front door in seven minutes from Bella's house. Normally it would have taken twenty. The minute they are out of the car and before they can even say thank you, I peel out and race to the border of the reservation. When we are definitely back in Cullen territory, I pull over and take a deep breath.

"Well that is probably the stupidest thing that I've ever done," I finally say to a very confused looking Bella.

"It was obviously an emergency, Edward," she replies. "We had to get them home quickly. I could never have gotten them there so fast."

"I just broke the treaty," I answer flatly.

Silence fills the car as we both contemplate the possibilities.

"Did you hear any thoughts of the wolves?" she finally asks.

"No," I admit. "But Billy saw me. Luckily for us, but unluckily for Harry, he was too busy to consider the ramifications. But I don't think that he'll forget. I have some very bad news for you. Harry was having another angina attack. He wanted the kids home as soon as possible to keep him calm until Sue got home."

"So I suppose that taking him to the hospital was out of the question?" she asks.

"I don't know," I reply. "I only got a glimpse of his thoughts. I didn't dare stay around longer even though I know that I could have gotten Harry to the hospital faster than any ambulance. This baby goes up to 175 without a problem."

We are about to start up again when the ambulance from the reservation goes screaming by, closely followed by an unknown car. I can barely see Leah and Seth in the back seat.

"I guess Leah insisted on the hospital," Bella comments. "I hope that they get him there in time."

"So do I," I answer grimly. "I guess that I'm not the only one being stupid today. But now I'm not sorry that I drove them back. It would have taken you much longer."

"I wonder what will happen about the treaty," she says.

"I can't even guess," I say. "But if things go badly with Harry, I can't imagine that anyone will be thinking about revenge for getting his kids home as quickly as possible."

"Those poor kids," she says. "It's scary to think about how that might be me."

"That could have been you," I correct her. "Charlie has really turned his health around. We had better get back to your house. If he's home, he'll want to know right away."

When we arrive at the house, we see the cruiser in the driveway.

"Hey, Bells!" he says cheerfully. "I got us some more good, healthy fish for you to cook."

"Dad," she says. "I have some bad news."

Charlie's expression instantly changes.

"Where are Seth and Leah?" he asks looking around. "I expected to see them when I got back. I was going to send some fish over to Harry. Did you drive them home already?"

Bella and I exchange a glance and then go and sit down in the living room. Charlie follows us and sits in his own chair, but is looking very tense.

"Billy called a little while ago," she explains. "He said that Harry needed Leah and Seth home right away. Edward drove us because he can drive really fast. I know that it was breaking the law, but there was no time to spare."

"Hang the law," answers Charlie as his mind begins to race through various disastrous scenarios. "How is Harry?"

"The La Push ambulance passed us on our way back to town," she says quietly.

We are all silent for a minute and then Charlie gets up.

"I'm going to the hospital to see what I can do," he says. "Don't worry about dinner for me."

"Dad," she says. "Do you think that I could go and keep Leah company?"

He considers for a minute and then replies.

"That could be a good idea," he says. "Sue says that she's been better since you two have been hanging out. And she's always in a better mood after she's spent time with you."

"Okay," she says. "I'll follow you in a minute."

After he is out the door, she turns to me.

"Do you mind?" she asks.

"Not at all," I say. "I could always go and keep Seth company. Carlisle is on duty today so he could give me a ride home."

"And you can get a read on what Billy is thinking about the treaty," she adds.

"C'mon, Bella," I reply. "I'm not that cynical. I've grown to like Seth a lot. If everyone is focused on Harry, then he could easily get overlooked."

"Easily," she agrees. "That's why I want to be there for Leah."

"Then let's go together and be there for both of them," I suggest.

It doesn't take long for her to agree. I drive us to the hospital quickly, but not as quickly as I did to La Push. When we go in the emergency entrance, we are greeted by a scene of absolute chaos. At least a dozen minds are thinking at such a high speed that I can't get a read from anyone on what is happening.

Charlie and Billy are with Sue. Sam and Emily are close by for support. Leah looks wretchedly miserable until she sees us and rushes over to Bella. Seth follows behind her. Leah allows Bella to put her arms around her and comfort her. I would do the same for Seth, but I don't dare touch him with my icy skin. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to expect it.

We walk over to a line of plastic chairs and the girls sit down. Leah gives herself over to sobbing now that she has Bella for support. I now can get a fix on her mind. Her father is in a very bad way and she is emotionally overcome by the fact that she has to undergo this trauma in the presence of Sam and Emily.

It is enough to make me want to go over to the stinking pooch and punch him in the snout. He seems completely tone deaf to the misery that he is adding to Leah's present situation. I'm glad that Bella insisted on coming. Leah is clinging to her like a lifeline. Seth is standing next to me putting on his best brave, manly face, but I can see that inside he is a scared little boy.

"Dad's in surgery now," he says, trying to sound calmer than he feels. "He had a heart attack from a blockage or something. I didn't understand what the doctor was talking about. Your Dad received us when we came in. He actually yelled at Billy for not getting him here sooner."

At this point his voice chokes up and his hands ball into fists. He is angry. I can see the scene at the house replaying in his mind. He and Leah had walked in and Harry looked as if he was dead already. Without asking permission, Leah called 911. When Billy yelled and asked what she thought that she was doing she told him to go to hell.

"You should have gotten him to the hospital right away," she yelled back in a fury. "You and your stupid, superstitious prejudices! I _hope _that Dr. Cullen is there. I _know _that I can count on him to save my father's life!"

Once they arrived at the ER, they called Sue to tell her to meet them there instead of at home. Harry was in bad shape, but Carlisle said that he would do the best he could. Then Billy told him not to touch Harry.

"I don't have a choice," Carlisle replied calmly, "I'm the only doctor here at the moment and he needs treatment right away."

"Over my dead body!" Billy answered grimly.

And then through Seth's memory I saw something that I had only witnessed very rarely before. Carlisle snapped.

"Better yours than his," he said. "If you hate me more than you love him, then you're crazier than I thought. Now get out of my way. Orderly?"

The technician pushed the gurney into one of the rooms. Carlisle followed, slamming the door behind him. As he walked away Billy yelled something about holding him personally accountable if anything happened to Harry.

"Well, I'll hold _you _personally accountable," hollered Leah. "He should have been here a half hour ago."

At this point, Sue came in and Leah tried to explain what happened. Billy kept interrupting her to complain about the fact that Cullen was treating him. Seth was standing helplessly aside when a nurse came out to say that Dr. Cullen wanted to talk to Sue. Billy tried to follow, but before he could get through the door, the nurse firmly stopped him and told him that the doctor only wanted to talk to a family member.

"Dr. Cullen told Mom that they needed to go into surgery right away," Seth continues, waking up from his reverie. "Mom told him to do whatever he could to save his life. He's assisting the surgeon now. He says that he isn't a heart specialist, so Dr. Gerandy is operating."

"That's very good," I assure him, even though I know that Carlisle is the better surgeon.

However, in this iteration of our existence, Carlisle is not playing a cardiac specialist. If Gerandy had not been in the hospital checking on another patient, there would have been no question about Carlisle operating. This was one of the limitations of playing our roles and creating different cover stories. However, as I survey the minds around me, it looks like it doesn't matter who operates on Harry. All the doctors and nurses who have seen him, including Carlisle, know that it's hopeless. He doesn't stand a chance.

I don't have it in me to offer ridiculously trite platitudes or offer false hope by saying that everything would be all right. Sometimes in life, things will not be all right. I am more concerned with keeping Seth out of the line of fire if another explosion erupts between Leah and Billy. The room is essentially split between two groups. Bella and I are with Seth and Leah, while Billy, Charlie, Sam, and Emily are with Sue.

I can read a very definite presumption of importance in Sam's mind. He is the pack leader and rightful chief of the tribe. It is his place to be with his members if they are going through a family crisis. In his concern for his duty to the tribe, he has forgotten about what his presence could mean for Leah.

Emily knew, but she had hoped that this would be an opportunity to mend fences with Leah. She truly believed that if she could comfort Leah in this terrible time, that Leah would see that she wasn't the monster she thought that she was. But Leah is still too bitter. And since she has Bella as her source of comfort, Emily has nothing to do but stand by Sam. Her mind is torn between her love for her man and her guilt about her cousin.

We are waiting in silence when Jacob hurries in. Despite the fact that he looks like he wants to gag at the sight of me, he comes over to our group and pulls Seth into a big bear hug.

"How's it going bro?" he asks him.

"Dad went into surgery about an hour ago," Seth answers. "We still haven't heard anything."

I can hear the annoyance in Sam's thoughts and the anger in Billy's thoughts because Jacob approached Seth first and not them. But Jacob remains true to his better self. He is primarily concerned with Seth and the pain that he is in. Despite my own recent friendship with the boy, it is nothing compared to the closeness that the two Quileutes have developed over the course of their lives. I heartily approve of Jacob's choice of family friend over tribal politics.

"I'm here for you now," says Jacob, avoiding the same "it will be okay" statement that I did. "Do you want to tell me the story? If you're not up to it, that's okay. I can figure most of it out anyway."

"Then you can figure out that your father kept my father away from the hospital because of his ridiculous prejudice," Leah remarks bitterly, lifting up her head from Bella's shoulder.

"Leah that was uncalled for," Sam calls over, asserting his rights a a tribal leader.

"No, you're the one who's uncalled for," she shoots back. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? Why don't you and Emily go home and bake cookies or something?"

Now Sam is uncomfortable because he knows that Leah doesn't know his true position in the tribe. And because she doesn't know that, she doesn't understand why his relationship with Emily is out of his control. As Bella pats Leah on the back and whispers soothing words, Emily feels even more superfluous and more guilty for adding to Leah's present pain.

She knows very well that Bella is the vampire girl. As Sam's imprint, she knows everything. Unlike Sam, it doesn't sicken her to see them together. She is regretful that she has lost her best friend, but she is caught up in the web of the imprint.

She had tried to escape Sam for Leah's sake, but it had only drawn them closer. When he destroyed her face, ironically enough, he won her heart as she tried to comfort him through his guilt. She truly loves him now and couldn't leave him if she wanted. But I am glad to see that at least she had the decency to feel remorseful about it.

Luckily, Sue is completely unaware of all this drama. Her mind and heart are solely focused on her husband, her life's partner, whose own life is hanging by a thread in the operating room. I search through the minds in the hospital until I find Carlisle's. I can look through his eyes and see that Harry's situation is hopeless. They have been working steadily, but it is no use. There has been too much damage. Dr. Gerandy shakes his head.

"There's nothing that we can do," he says solemnly. "Even if they had gotten him here hours sooner, it would have been useless. This kind of damage happens from years of neglect."

Carlisle nods. The kindest thing to do is to bring the family in to say goodbye before he finally passes. At Carlisle's suggestion, Gerandy leaves to bring in Sue and the kids.

"He won't even know that they are here," one of the nurses comments.

"We can't know that," Carlisle says. "Let's pull the sheet over his chest and make it look a little better. They need to have this moment while he is still breathing."

I can see as Carlisle looks at the readings on the various machines that Harry is only alive because of them. Once they turn them off, he will be gone. I look over and see that Gerandy has arrived in the waiting room and is speaking softly to Sue. Leah jumps up and she and Seth walk over to her when she gestures. Then the three of them follow the doctor out.

"I wonder what that means," Jacob says.

"I'm not sure," I reply softly. "But it can't be good."

Bella stands up and walks over to me so that I can hold her in my arms as she weeps. I look over at Charlie and can see that he is trying to suppress his own tears in vain. He catches my eye and nods.

"I'm glad that she has you to take care of her," he thinks, not realizing that I can hear every word.

I give him a slight nod in return and close my eyes to try and block out the vision in Carlisle's mind of the final scene between Harry and his family.

**To my faithful readers: Yes, **_**I know**_**. It has been a very long time. But have a little pity for a teacher in the throes of trying to learn to use the "flip classroom" effectively. I know this is a cliffie, but I have the next three chapters written in my head. I will try not to make you wait too long for them.**


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